Notecards

Women in Medicine Before the 19th Century

Source:

Boslaugh, Sarah. "Women in Science and Medicine during the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras." American Women's History Online , Facts On File, 2011. Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

Quote:

"Besides midwifery, women also practiced medicine as nurses and 'doctor women,' a term used primarily before the 19th century to refer to women who performed the services associated with male doctors. Modern nursing schools did not exist until the 19th century, and before that time it was not assumed that nurses before that period had any particular knowledge of medicine beyond that of any other adult women. Because medical care was usually provided by the mother of the house, one common reason for hiring a nurse was if the mother herself needed care. For instance, postpartum care was often provided by a nurse who took care of both newborn infants and their mothers, similar to what a doula does today. The term 'nurse' in this period also referred to a wet-nurse, or someone who would breastfeed a child not born to her. It was not uncommon for the same woman to provide both types of service."

Paraphrase:

• Women practiced as nurses and "doctor women" along with midwifery. 
• "Doctor women" was a term used usually before the 19th century. The term pertained to women who practiced forms of medicine that associated with male doctors. 
• Before the 19th century, there were no modern nursing schools.
• It was believed hat nurses before that time had just as much information about medicine that any other grown women had. 
• A normal reason for a nurse to be hired would be if the woman of the house was ill. That is because the woman of the house would be the one providing care for her family.
• A nurse would take care of mothers and infants shortly after childbirth.
• A nurse provided care similar to care that a doula would provide now.
• The word "nurse" within the colonial time period was connected with the term wet-nurse or a person who would breastfeed a baby not born to her.
• It was abnormal for a woman to administer both types of assistance. 

My Ideas:

One thing I noticed after reading this chunk of information is that women did not just specialize in midwifery. They also practiced types of medicine that were generalized towards men. For example, women were nurses, surgeons, pharmacist or anything else in the medical field. The only thing that would be different is that they would be called a "doctor woman." This shows that even though women could have the same jobs as men, they would still have a label that separated them from men and made them less important than the male figure in the room. I also noticed that women had a lot of jobs in the medical field that had to do with childbirth. I wonder when woman started to drift away from jobs that were related to childbirth and started to study surgery and things like that? I can infer that once women were allowed to have an education in medicine at a university, they were able to learn so much more about different types of medicine. I also found this particularly interesting: Today when we hear the word nurse we think of the man or woman who takes our blood pressure and checks our temperature before we see our doctor. It really surprised me that the term "nurse" was associated with wet-nurse. I wonder what changed the meaning? I can infer that the word "nurse" symbolized an assistant role and that it caused a slight change in the meaning. Lastly, I noticed that a woman was the primary caretaker in the household. When learning about the Native Americans and plantation life I can recall that the woman was always in charge of medicine. I can infer that this happened because the men were always busy hunting or working. 

History:

Created: 11/03/2016 08:29 PM