Difference between revisions of "Week 6 Questions/Comments"
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I think that what might have aided womens acceptance of the shift to men physicians instead of midwifes may have just been as simple as they were the ones with medical training. Plus they were men and supposedly had more reason than women. Also it wasn't an immediate switch to men, it was more gradual. At first, the men worked with the midwives or were only called in emergencies. Then it was because they were able to ease the pain and had the tools to help pull out the child. The fact that many medical schools devoted at least one professor to solely focus on midwifery speaks to societies view of the necessity of proper training and the male focus of all things medical. --Alex K. | I think that what might have aided womens acceptance of the shift to men physicians instead of midwifes may have just been as simple as they were the ones with medical training. Plus they were men and supposedly had more reason than women. Also it wasn't an immediate switch to men, it was more gradual. At first, the men worked with the midwives or were only called in emergencies. Then it was because they were able to ease the pain and had the tools to help pull out the child. The fact that many medical schools devoted at least one professor to solely focus on midwifery speaks to societies view of the necessity of proper training and the male focus of all things medical. --Alex K. | ||
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| + | '''Remember that what is going on here is the professionalizing of medicine. Doctors were also waging an active propaganda campaign about how their training made them better than untrained women and men. [Also remember the limitation of Scholten's study. It's focused on the urban areas, especially in the Northeast. Midwives continue to be very important through the early 20th Century.--JM''' | ||
While I understand that it can be seen that men usurped women's place in the birthing room, I agree with Alex. These men were trained. At this time women doctors were virtually unheard of, as far as I know anyway, but these men had the tools and the training necessary to potentially save both the mother and her child. They were called in cases of emergency, when whatever it was that the midwife was doing just wasnt working. I have never given birth but I would like to think that in that situation I would call whoever I could think of, do anything, that could by some miracle help save my life or the life of my child.--Mary P. | While I understand that it can be seen that men usurped women's place in the birthing room, I agree with Alex. These men were trained. At this time women doctors were virtually unheard of, as far as I know anyway, but these men had the tools and the training necessary to potentially save both the mother and her child. They were called in cases of emergency, when whatever it was that the midwife was doing just wasnt working. I have never given birth but I would like to think that in that situation I would call whoever I could think of, do anything, that could by some miracle help save my life or the life of my child.--Mary P. | ||
