Sworn midwife: Mistress Katharine Manley of Whitby, her work and world
‘There is no formal memorial to Mrs Manley’s near half-century of service to the people of Whitby. Yet her diary, a veritable gold mine for the genealogist and for the social historian, remains with us, enormously enriching our understanding of a vital aspect of a bygone age.’ (p. 34) The full text of this article […]
De-medicalisation of breast feeding …
In 1982 Chloe Fisher, who has dedicated much of her life to educating midwives and women on infant feeding and to supporting breast feeding mothers, published a historical review of modern breastfeeding ‘management’ and the origins of certain restrictive practices which prevailed for a considerable time during the twentieth century. While contemporary medical experts were advocating […]
Keep in contact with De Partu
We are keen to keep in contact with you … however … The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on May 25th 2018, requires that De Partu provide its members and “followers” with specific details of the personal information that is held on record about them, and obtain explicit, current consent […]
BSHM medicinal plants lectures and Poynter Lecture
Royal College of Physicians Medicinal plants lectures and the Poynter Lecture of the British Society for the History of Medicine Monday 11th June 1.30pm-7.00pm Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regents Park, London, NW1 4LE Plants in Anaesthesia by Dr David Wilkinson, former consultant anaesthetist, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and historian of anaesthesia A […]
New image gallery for the De Partu website: launch of an appeal for images of midwives’ badges
Wouldn’t it be timely to compile a gallery of as many former midwifery ‘training’ school badges as possible, before they are lost? Former schools of midwifery often produced their own badges, sometimes with interesting coats of arms or mottos on them. We have made a start with this: members can view them in our image […]
Study day: Education for practitioners and prospective parents during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries
Trinity College, Oxford May 5th 2018 This study day is part of the Knowledge Exchange Partnership between The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), the De Partu History of Childbirth Group, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The day will focus on the history of midwives’ and obstetricians’ professional education and ways […]
Books for sale
Books for sale De Partu is currently holding an online sale of secondhand and rare books to raise funds for the Jean Donnison History of Childbirth Student Essay Prize. They include potentially useful primary and secondary sources for historical research which are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, some being out of print. The prices have been checked, […]