The Compleat midwife's practice enlarged: in the most weighty and high concernments of the birth of man : containing a perfect directory, for rules for midwives and nurses : and also a guide for women in their conception, bearing and nursing of children : from the experience of our English authors : viz. Sir Theodore Mayern, Dr. Chamberlain, Mr. Nich. Culpeper, and other foreign nations : with instructions of the Queen of France's midwife to her daughter, a little before her death, touching the practice of the said art : as also a farther discovery of those secrets kept close in the breast of Sir Theodore Mayern, Mr. Nicholas Culpeper, and other English writers, not made publick 'till now
Link to full text of later edition dated 1697:
https://archive.org/details/2327006R.nlm.nih.gov
| Date | 1659 |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Description |
The Compleat Midwife was the first published English ‘manual’ with directions on childbirth. The authorship of this book is rather mysterious, being attributed to four female midwifery “practitioners” identified only by their initials. Although midwifery treatises were being published in abundance by the mid-17th century, they were normally produced by men. It was not until 1671 that the first book on midwifery, The Midwives Book, was produced by an identifiable English female midwife, Jane Sharp. Intended for a female audience, it is possible, likely even, that The Compleat Midwife was authored by men adopting female personas throughout the text. Although a proportion of the text is drawn from translations of midwifery texts from the Continent -for example a case history from Louise Bourgeois, midwife to the Queen of France - it does nevertheless include original case studies of complicated deliveries. Published before ‘man-midwifery’ had emerged in any substantial way, female midwives were portrayed in the book as knowledgeable and skilled experts. First published in 1656, it was reprinted on six occasions, and this very rare “enlarged” second edition includes a significant amount of text by Nicholas Culpeper, a famous apothecary. Amongst revealing his “secret” medical recipes, he includes a discussion on how to conceive wise, male children. |
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