CHILDBIRTH AND THE DISPLAY OF AUTHORITY IN EARLY MODERN FRANCE

the long version

Throughout the early modern period in France, surgeon men-midwives were predominantly associated with sexual impropriety and physical danger, yet over time they managed to change their image, and by the eighteenth century were summoned to attend even the uncomplicated deliveries of wealthy urban clients. In this study, Lianne McTavish explores how surgeons strove to transform the perception of their midwifery practices, claiming to be experts who embodied obstetrical authority instead of intruders in a traditionally feminine domain.