HISTORY OF AMERICAN WOMEN COLONIAL WOMEN | 18TH-19TH CENTURY WOMEN | CIVIL WAR WOMEN
WOMEN IN MEDICINE 19TH CENTURY MIDWIVES Midwives In 19th Century America Childbirth in the American Colonies Childbirth in colonial America was a difficult and sometimes dangerous experience for a woman. Since the typical mother gave birth to between five and eight children, her lifetime chances of dying in childbirth ran as high as 1 in 8. Death in childbirth was sufficiently common that many colonial women regarded pregnancy with dread. Image: American pioneer birth scene Gustave Joseph Witkowski, 1887 In addition to her anxieties about pregnancy, an expectant mother was filled with apprehensions about the death of her newborn child. In the healthiest seventeenth century communities, one infant in ten died before the age of five. In less healthy environments, three children in ten died before their fifth birthday. 18th Century Midwives In colonial America, the typical woman gave birth to her children at home. While female relatives and neighbors clustered at her bedside to of...