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Social History of Medicine 2003 16(1):1-16; doi:10.1093/shm/16.1.1
© 2003 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Midwifery and Society in Restoration York

Samuel S. Thomas1

1 Department of History, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA. E-mail: ssthomas{at}artsci.wustl.edu

This article is a micro-historical study of the social networks of an elite midwife in seventeenth-century England, and discusses the implications of these networks for our understanding of early modern midwifery. Bridget Hodgson was the daughter-in-law to the former Lord Mayor of York, and closely connected to some of the city's most influential families. Analysis of the connections found in her will and the depositions from a defamation trial in which she was involved illustrates Hodgson's place among York's elite, but also indicates that her work as a midwife took her outside of these circles. This article also compares Hodgson's experience with that of her maidservant and deputy, discussing the different meanings that midwifery could have for its practitioners, depending on their social background. Testimony from the defamation case indicates the ways in which her work as a midwife shaped her relationship to parish authorities and to the female community. Midwives were expected to report illegitimate births to parish officials, an obligation which overlapped with female efforts to control the sexuality of neighbourhood women through gossip. This article highlights the complexity of the midwife's place in early modern society, and contributes to our understanding of this important class of women.

Keywords: midwife; midwifery; England; Great Britain; York; early modern; seventeenth century; defamation; gossip


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