De practyk der vroed'meesters en vroed'vrouwen, Of de wyse van een vrouw' te helpen in haar kindbaren. Be...

The most incorrect births, with or without labor; all hemorrhages with clots; although little or no labor, whether at the full term or not: All convulsions or fits: And many first labors: And some others, although the child is indeed turned, if there is no or little labor after the breaking of the water, and the child then not following in about six, eight or ten hours thereafter, require the good counsel, and easily the speedy delivery, of such men who are experienced in this practice, who will apparently save the matters quickly: For although it is that some few such occurrences survive happily, it is nevertheless the case that the most go lost, if wise men do not come to their aid. Let me therefore advise good midwives not to so lightly accuse those midwives who do not hesitate to call for help in heavy cases, unless they count it an advantage to discourage others, and to force them to do things beyond their knowledge and strengths, particularly when they themselves are only too reckless.

Thus far the renowned Dr. Chamberlen, regarding the time when, and the occurrences in which, a midwife ought to send for help: Just as one shall also be able to see in these observations that even prominent midwives in France are not ashamed

in heavy occurrences to request timely help, in order to save mother and child, or at least one of the two.

And a little lower, the same Chamberlen says: In the 16th Chapter of the second Book, our Author (Mauriceau) recognizes the use of hooks; just as this Author (Portal) also does in the 2nd Chapter and other places, which one hooks in the head of a child that comes straight, but remains stuck through some disproportion or other difficulty in the birth, which manner of procedure has been customary for long, and still is among the most prominent man-midwives, not only of this Kingdom, but of all Europe, and which is indeed the most important cause of the common saying that where a man-midwife comes, one of the two (mother or child) must die; and from this has also sprung the fear that many women do not send until the child is dead, or the mother lies at the limit. But I can neither approve the use of these hooks, nor the delay that has sprung from it, as my Father, my Brothers and I, and no one else in all of Europe, as far as I am aware, by God's blessing and our diligence, possess a means that we have practiced for some years, to deliver a woman in such a case, without doing her or her child any harm; where all