Historical Childbirth Politics 1820-1980

The Dream, the Motives, the Methods & Enduring Impact of 1914 book “Twilight Sleep ~ Simple Discoveries in Painless Childbirth ~ by famous American obstetrician: Part 1 ~ Overview

by faithgibson February 26, 2018

Easy short cut to sare –> https://tinyurl.com/ycee9xv7 { Originally posted in 2010 } I discovered the missing piece of the puzzle in a small book published in 1914 ‘TWILIGHT SLEEP ~ Simple Discoveries in Painless Childbirth“ {click above for access to the original source material}. It was written by Dr. J. Whitridge Williams, a famous obstetrician, with the help of […]

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Intro to an 8-part series on Dr. Williams’ 1914 book “Twilight Sleep”: Simple Discoveries in Painless Childbirth”

by faithgibson February 17, 2018

How I became a time-traveler, a storyteller and “idiot savant” on the unnecessary often dangerous medicalization of normal birth by the obstetrical profession in the United States over the course of the 20th century and why this story still matters today to every American Easy Shortcut to share –> https://tinyurl.com/y8pgewkg The information in this 8-part […]

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Prologue & Index ~ 8-part series on famous obstetrician & his 1914 book outlining his plan to monopolize and monetize childbirth services by inventing “elective hospitalization” for healthy maternity patients as ‘paying customer’ & to re-define normal birth as a surgical procedure

by faithgibson February 14, 2018

Note from the author: I first posted these essays in 2010, just two years after first reading Dr. J. Whitridge Williams’ 1914 book “Twilight Sleep: Simple Discoveries in Painless Childbirth“.  When his small, 128-page book was published in 1914, Dr. Williams was highly accomplished as an obstetrician and well-known as the author of “Williams’ Obstetrics” […]

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Five-part historical series on the new American speciality of obstetrics & gynecology ~ 1900 to 1950s

by faithgibson April 9, 2017

This post includes links to 5 documents with historical quotes on different topics by obstetricians and professional journals during the first half of the 20th century (1900-1950s). These sources are describing the political and public relations campaign by obstetrical profession starting in 1910 to eliminate the practice of midwifery, and replace physiologic childbirth practices traditionally used […]

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Day 12: Historical & contemporary comments by physicians about midwives ~ 1820 to 2014

by faithgibson April 15, 2016

A 30-day series of quotes spanning two hundred years ~ click here to begin with Day 1 Speed readers and nerds can link to the entire series as a single long post   Day 12 ~ 2011 to 2014 2011 ~ Rachael Ward, director of research for Amnesty International USA and author of: “Deadly Delivery: The Maternal […]

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