ABSTRACT
The advent of "natural" childbirth, culminating in the revival of lay midwifery, has changed historical judgments as well as obstetrics. This chapter focuses on the manuscript diary of a Maine midwife, Martha Moore Ballard, who lived at Augusta from 1778 to 1812. It utilises English obstetrical literature, scattered physicians' and midwives' records from Maine and New Hampshire, and the papers of Dr. Jeremiah Barker of Gorham, Maine. Even authors who mistrusted "man-midwifery" and the use of forceps acknowledged the problems. Most publishing physicians argued that the sign of a good midwife was her willingness to call for help when needed. As Thomas Denman expressed it, "A natural labour was the last thing well understood in the practice of midwifery, because scientific men, not being formerly employed in the management of common labours, had no opportunity of making observations upon them."
