Home births were the norm ,with a woman neighbour or mother to be’s own mother there.
Some unqualified but very experienced women women acted as midwives.
Childbirth was not seen as very important ,in fact in hospitals where some women but not the majority gave birth ,when the Drs did their rounds the newly delivered women were the last to be seen.
Prior to them being seen the Drs and Surgeons had often visited the mortuary and maybe done a post mortem!
In the same garments - no scrubs- they then visited the maternity wards and some examinations took place ,the Drs had not scrubbed their hands and the death rate from puerperal fever ( a raging infection after childbirth ) was so high amongst women in hospital as compared to home births it aroused suspicions ,and the Drs were causing it .
But it shows you how low down the priority list women were when they came after cadavers!
A very gory but true story.
Viktoria.
