ABSTRACT
Since the mid-eighteenth century Spanish midwifery has been shaped along gender lines, differentiating between male theory, obstetric surgical science, and mostly female practice, in one of the few professions carried out by women. After the mideighteenth century surgeons controlled access to midwifery, directing midwife training through the Colegios de Cirugía (Colleges of Surgery), and the surgeons, the physicians, and the local authorities governed the profession between them.1 In this chapter we shall analyse the changes that took place with respect to access to the profession throughout the nineteenth century, and the practice of midwifery in the city of Granada at the beginning of the twentieth century.
