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Midwives versus medics

A 17th-century professional turf war

Department of Management at the University of Bristol, mary.phillips{at}bris.ac.uk

In the latter par t of the 17th centur y, male surgeons specializing in childbirth increasingly encroached upon the professional territor y traditionally held by female midwives. Drawing figuratively upon Foucault's concepts of power and resistance, this ar ticle examines the means by which the medical profession undermined the knowledge and experience of midwives. It then examines resistance against male incursion through the works of Elizabeth Cellier. She presented a proposal to James II calling for the foundation of organized training for midwives and later published a pamphlet in defence of the midwifer y profession. Cellier's work demonstrates that female midwives were able to use contradictions and instabilities in the system that constricted them to project alternative truths and to exercise power through resistance.

Key Words: Cellier • childbirth • obstetrics • power • resistance

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