On the list of required reading for
midwifery students,
this should be at the top of the
list!
Posted
~ February 19, 2009
My most exciting "find" so far
in 2009
~ a 1914 book called "Painless Childbirth"
that extols
the virtues of scopolamine and morphine in labor
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If you ever
wondered what it would be like to sit down and interview the
famous obstetricians who practiced in the 1910-1930 era,
you have to read this book. It is a treasure trove of
information on attitudes, early policies and practices and
trivia. One factoid was the graduation requirement for Johns
Hopkins Medical School, which was to have attended the
childbirth of 10 women .
Topics
covered are:
Scopolamine,
policies instituted by Dr J. Whitridge Williams, obstetrical
education and clinical training, the new ideas of universal
hospitalization and operative obstetrics as the norm, how to
convince women to come to the hospital for normal
childbirth, how promote these ideas to the public so as to
convince them to pay for then with state and federal funds
and how to attract philanthropists to build new hospitals
and create obstetrical charities to serve poor women.
The author of
Painless Childbirth is Henry Smith Williams, who was
born 3 years before John Whitridge Williams and outlived him
by 12 years, In addition to sharing the same surname, both
were MDs and both devoted their life to studying and writing
academic publications in the field of medical science.
Despite consider searching, I could not determine if they
were related to one another. It seems likely, as about half
of H. Smith William's book on painless childbirth was
devoted to promoting J. Whitridge Williams, his ideas and
his professional aspirations. From the reverent tone and
sheer volume of words, one must concluded that H. Smith was
either J. Whitridge's press agent or his brother or other
close relative.
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Here is the
author's bio from an advertisement for "Painless Childbirth"
“ Dr. Henry Smith Williams is
one of our very few physicians and scientists of national
reputation, combining as he does an expert knowledge of
medical facts, a position of authority in his profession,
and a remarkable gilt for straightforward, un-technical
writing that all can understand and enjoy. Beginning his
practice of medicine in 1884, he has held many positions of
honor and trust, such as Medical Superintendent of the New
York Infant Asylum, and the Randall's Island Hospitals, New
York; Assistant Physician to Bloomingdale Asylum; and has
written many authoritative books on medical and related
subjects, notably: "A History of Science" , "The
Wonder of Science in Modern Life", "Miracles of
Science", "Adding Years to Your Life", etc.,
etc., also editor of "The Historians' History of the
World." He has also contributed many notable articles to
McClure's Magazine and to medical journals. ”
Advertisement
for the book Painless Childbirth
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Part 1
The development of scopolamine as an amnesic drug for labor
Part 2 --
Everything you EVER wanted to know about the inventions,
development, prejudices, etc of American obstetrics as told
by Dr. J. Whitridge Williams
Part 3
--
Convincing the "laity" The Politics of convincing the
"laity" to accept and support the drive by the "new
obstetrics" for universal hospitalization and operative
obstetrics as the norm, followed by strategies to and to
attract philanthropists with very deep pocket the give large
sums of money to fund this ideas -- a plan best described as
"build it, they will come".
Post February 19, 2009
This historical gem was
written in the mid- to late 1920s. Its like reading the
minds of the entire medical profession about fifty
interesting & controversial topics.
It's revealing, shocking,
edifying -- anything but boring, 2 thumbs up, required
reading for all students of midwifery
The Expectant Mother – Four Parts ~
(1)
Pregnancy including advice to never use the
services of a midwife
(2)
Childbirth includes Twilight Sleep, other anesthetics
(3)
Newborn care and development
(4)
Infant Feeding ~ Breast and Bottle
The
Mother and Her Child
By William S.
Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.
Written sometime between 1923 & 1930
About the Author:
Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American
psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine
at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he
practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years
being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg
Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the
mysterious Urantia Papers.
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