Gender and professionalism in eighteenth-century midwifery

Abstract

During the eighteenth century male surgeon-midwives, physician-midwives, and finally obstetric specialists began to replace female midwives. This article is a rhetorical analysis of the discourse used by women midwives, men midwives, surgeon midwives, and practicing obstetric professors. The two women, Jane Sharp and Sarah Stone, use what I term circular discourse: language that is more metaphorical than analytical, non-technical, highly discursive, and repetitive. Both women demonstrate a greater sensitivity to the patient's pain. Conversely, the three men, William Smellie, William Hunter, and Thomas Denman, use what I term linear discourse: language that is rarely metaphorical or discursive, highly analytical and technical, and while possessing numerous details of the patient's physicalness, rarely notes her emotional state of being. The more committed the male midwife is to the clinical profession of midwifery, the greater his investment in linear discourse.