Thomas Young Lectures in Midwifery, 1771 Vol. 1

Notes from the lectures of Thomas Young, 1771

Author unknown

Manuscript notes taken at the pioneering obstetrical lectures of surgeon Thomas Young. Young’s pupils were among the earliest groups of male students who were university-trained in midwifery. According to his biographer: “it is unlikely that any course of lectures in midwifery given either in Britain or on the continent was better organised, more carefully thought out, or more frequently revised than those offered by Thomas Young in Edinburgh between 1756 and 1781”.

A major scientific contribution to 18th century midwifery was in the description of the anatomy and dimensions of the female pelvis and Young gave considerable attention to this. His lectures on the use of forceps were said to be the finest in the entire course. Given that the early man-midwives had mostly been called upon to attend emergency deliveries, students of Young benefited from his experience and tuition on of complicated cases and laborious or preternatural births.

Students also obtained exceptional hands-on training with Young, whether this was through physically examining pregnant women in ‘touching’ classes or having access to sophisticated mechanical devices to practice and experiment on. Outside lectures, as the founder of the lying-in ward at the Royal Infirmary, Young’s pupils attended complicated deliveries and gained extensive clinical experience from the stipulation that no patients would be admitted unless they agreed to be delivered by the students.