Puerperal fever as a source of conflict between midwives and medical men in eighteenth- and early nineteenth- century Britain

The idea that midwives and medical men fought for control of childbirth in the eighteenth century has long been viewed as a part of the history of midwifery. It is an idea that has been accepted implicitly by most writers on the subject, even those who have warned that it might be an over-simplification.1 Originating from very different social backgrounds, the two groups operated from within radically different knowledge bases and drew on unique bodies of experience that overlapped less than might be supposed.