A preliminary survey of midwifery training in Edinburgh, 1844 to 1870

A brief review of the teaching of midwifery in Edinburgh from the creation of the first chair of midwifery in 1723 to the introduction of mandatory teaching of midwifery to medical students in 1833 is given. The evidence that women continued to be taught after this date is examined and the hypothesis that the latter led to the reduction or termination of midwifery training for women is shown to be untrue by examination of the casebooks for the Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital (founded in 1844) and associated documents. The nature of the training offered to female pupils prior to 1871, and the contemporary confusion of the terms midwife and nurse, are also examined.