Childbirth -Midwifery and Dr. Jesse Bennet, Rockingham County, Virginia

Patchwork Quilt

In many ways, a family history is very similar to a patchwork quilt.  It is chucked full of a great variety of many beautiful pieces or perhaps the fascinating stories which make up a family’s history ranging from tales of wealth, grandeur, and beauty to those of poverty and destitution, including all the misery thereof.

 Just as all quilts have a binding which holds them together, so too does a family’s history.  It begins with a person’s birth and ends with the death of the last  of that person’s descendants.

Just as a patchwork quilt is connected by the stitching which connects each piece, one to the other, so too is a family which is connected, generation after generation, by the birthing process. 

Birthing Chair

 For our ancestors, childbirth and childhood were times of both great hazard and equally great joy as both were caught somewhere in between science and religion as found in the social and medical practices of the day.  

From the medieval period to the end of the 17^th Century both labour and childbirth were surrounded by ancient ritual and superstition.  A veil of secrecy surrounded the knowledge and practices of the midwife.  Even though obstetrical forceps had been invented by Dr. Peter Chamberien in 1650, they were seldom used as obstetrics was still in a very primitive phase where the skill of a midwife or surgeon could rarely save mother and/or child in the event of a serious complication. Amulets, herbs and religious practices reigned supreme during this period of time.

In 1739, the first obstetrics ward opened in Winchester, England at the St. James’ Parochial Infirmary.

Midwife's Certificate

In 1741, Dr. William Smellie began to give lectures to medical students and midwives.  Many considered death as an inevitable tragedy as approximately one woman in every forty died while giving birth.  The acceptance of both pain and danger were perceived as a test of faith by which women obeyed God’s first commandment, “be fruitful and multiple,” as they suffered for Eve’s sins.  Women of all classes, were encouraged to prepare themselves for death before going into labour as the biblical phrase, “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children,” was invoked.                                                            

In order to pursue their career, midwives had to obtain a license from the Church of England.  This practice continued well into the Georgian era. These licenses often carried the names of those folk who could and would testify to the competence and “good and honest life” of the midwife and stated that the midwife either was a member of the Church of England or conformed to its doctrines.  This was important because of the fear of witchcraft which was still very prevalent in England during the 17^th Century.

In 1783, after the American Revolution, a Stamp Act was introduced in England requiring a three pence tax on all entries in baptismal registers.

Dr. Jessee Bennett Road Sign

On the 14 January 1794, Dr. Jessee Bennett performed the first successful Caesarean section and oophorectomy done in America.  This operation was done near Edom in Rockingham County, Virginia in an attempt to save the lives of his wife and child.

As a new century dawned, changes occurred within the profession, both in America and in the British Empire.  In 1836, The Births & Deaths Registration Act introduced civil registration of all births in England and Wales. 

A Scottish physician, Dr. James Young Simpson, first used chloroform for general anesthesia during childbirth in 1847. Many of the clergy argued that the pains of childbirth were derived from the “curse of Eve” and that such drugs were the decoy of Satan as they robbed God of the earnest cries which arise in time of trouble for His help.

 

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

The use of anesthesia came into popular use after its virtues during childbirth were extolled by Queen Victoria, who was also Head of the Church of England.

In 1854, The Births & Deaths Registration Act introduced civil registration of all births in England and Wales was introduced into Scotland.  A similar act was later introduced into the United States.

And perhaps most importantly, Louis Pasteur discovered the connection between poor hygiene and puerperal [childbed] fever.  The fact that so many midwifes, who worked among the poor, were still ignoring the connection between bacteria and infection, caused Joseph Lister to call for higher standards of cleanliness in order to reduce the vast number of deaths.