Historic Publications

I’m devoting August 2023 to posting and organizing the mass of material I have on the life and influence of Dr. J. Whitridge Williams on obstetrics in America and his (unfortunately) successful efforts to officially define obstetrics as a surgical specialty, childbearing women was “surgical patients” and childbirth as a surgical procedure “performed” by the […]

I am devoting August 2023 to posting and organizing the mass of material i have on the life and influence of Dr. J. Whitridge Williams. My goal is to collate the material into a single volume.  So if it seems redundant, you are right. But these various version were written at different times and represent […]

The Start of Life: a History of Obstetrics ~ by UK Professor of Obstetrics

by faithgibson June 15, 2023

The start of life: a history of obstetrics by Professor J Drife, UK ~ 2023 Correspondence to:
 Professor J Drife, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Level D, Clarendon Wing, Belmont Grove, Leeds LS2 9NS, UK;
 j.o.drife@leeds.ac.uk Abstract Obstetric intervention originally consisted of extraction of the baby, usually by the breech, to save the mother’s life in […]

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Midwifery vs. midwives: What doctors referred to as “The Midwife Problem” i.e. the problem they had in getting rid of midwives!

by faithgibson April 19, 2023

Originally posted November 25, 2012  OVERVIEW: The following historical material begins by referring to “the midwife problem“efforts by the obstetrical profession to “eliminate the midwife“, As time passed they included the eradication of midwifery as a professional discipline to their goals. The campaign by influential American obstetricians to eliminate the practice of midwives and the […]

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Maternal mortality in the past and its relevance to developing countries today | The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | Oxford Academic

by faithgibson January 17, 2021

Maternal mortality in the past and its relevance to developing countries today Irvine Loudon The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 72, Issue 1, July 2000, Pages 241S–246S, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/72.1.241S Published: 01 July 2000   Spoiler alert:   Midwives: Yes! Over the last two hundred-plus years professional midwives as a normal part of the maternity care system […]

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