ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 looks at the challenges and change experienced by English midwives into the 17th century, after the arrival of accoucheurs in rural areas. The continuity of midwifery services into the 17th century, midwives as witness in cases of murder of a pregnant woman and birth among women who existed in subcultures in rural 16th-century and 17th-century England is explored. Opinions of Diarist Reverend Ralph Josselin, midwife Margaret Pullen and the bastardy hearing regarding the child of Mary Graunte are discussed. During this time, Elizabeth Cellier proposed a midwifery college. The chapter covers Midwife Martha Tomalin and the case of the base child of Dionice Bailey, as well as the licensing of midwife Anne Culley in 1742 and the Treatise on the Art of Midwifery, by Elizabeth Nihell. The consideration of midwives as expert witnesses to the courts in maternity matters is also considered.
