August 2023

“Remarks on the Employment of Females as Practitioners in Midwifery” 1820, Cummings & Hilliard, Boston

by faithgibson on August 21, 2023

in Historical Childbirth Politics 1820-1980

Originally published in Boston in 1820 by Cummings and Hilliard A physician provides advice to other doctors about why “females as practitioners in midwifery” are unfit to attend births and should be supplanted by medical doctors The following are excerpts from a journal article written by a physician and originally published more than 150 years […]

Increased elective induction of labor @ 39 weeks after publication of ARRIVE study recommending induction did NOT lower the rate of C-sections and hypertension for 1st time mothers

by faithgibson on August 19, 2023

in OB Interventions: Dubious or Detrimental, Scientific Literature

Articles   Increased elective induction of labor @ 39 weeks after publication of ARRIVE did not lower C-section, hypertensive disorder rates for 1st-time mothers Excerpt from article: ” …. following the publication of “ARRIVE” there was an overall 42% increase in elective induction of labor …. … however the associated improvements in outcomes reported in […]

Transcribed interview by Christiania Amanpour of Frank Schaeffer, filmmaker & son of anti-abortion evangelical scholar Francis Schaeffer

by faithgibson August 6, 2023

This program originally aired on the Public Broadcasting Company (PBS) on May 5, 2022. Christiania Amanpour interview of Frank Schaeffer, son of the famous and very influential evangelical scholar, Francis Schaeffer. As a young man, Frank adopted his father’s anti-abortion beliefs and used his talents to make a number of very popular anti-abortion films that […]

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Part 2: The Dark Side of the Moon ~ Synoptic account of Dr. J.W. Williams as recorded in 1914 book “Twilight Sleep” book and public records of the AMSPIM* meeting from 1910 to 1915

by faithgibson August 6, 2023

*NOTE: AASPIM is for the “American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality”. This was a professional organization of obstetricians and other MDs and public health officials that met annually from 1910 to 1923. It was originally organized, financed, and backed by the AMA. The previous post — Part One — provided the necessary […]

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Post #1 ~ A Brief synopsis of the long story of Dr. J.W. Williams as recorded in 1914 “Twilight Sleep” and public records incl 1910 to 1923 meetings of the AMSPIM

by faithgibson August 5, 2023

Background material about the American influential obstetrician Dr. J. Whitridge Williams, and his role in portraying childbirth in white middle and upper-class women as a quasi-pathology process   This story was memorialized in a book published in 1914 entitled “Twilight Sleep: A Simple Account of New Discoveries in Painless Childbirth“. It also was recorded in […]

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