ABSTRACT
Historians of obstetrics, concentrating on great men and their discoveries, have sometimes painted a picture of progress from one milestone to another, forward to enlightenment, which does no sort of justice to the complexities of reality. Men-midwives, perhaps partly because they knew there was a strong initial prejudice against them to be overcome on account of their sex, seem to have been more aware of the necessity of conciliating the patient than midwives, some of whom adopted a bossy and domineering manner. The general trend towards needless interference in normal labour by 'haling' midwifery — so unfortunately promoted in the earlier part of the period — had been put into reverse by the end, and this too must count as an improvement. During these two centuries midwifery passed from a female mystery employing traditional medicines and often superstitions, even in difficult cases, to a scientifically-based clinical skill, with both gains and losses to the patient.
