{"id":14950,"date":"2022-10-13T17:06:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T21:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/?p=14950"},"modified":"2022-10-25T10:00:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:00:20","slug":"treasures-from-the-rare-book-room-a-complete-treatise-on-childbirth-well-valued-in-18th-century-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/info.hsls.pitt.edu\/updatereport\/treasures-from-the-rare-book-room-a-complete-treatise-on-childbirth-well-valued-in-18th-century-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Treasures from the Rare Book Room: A Complete Treatise on Childbirth Well-Valued in 18th-Century France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guillaume Mauquest de la Motte was a surgeon-acco<\/em>u<\/em>cheur<\/em>. Accoucheurs<\/em> were male surgeons specializing in childbirth, which became fashionable in 17th<\/sup>-century France as an alternative to the tradition of women as birth attendants. In the early 18th<\/sup> century, accoucheurs<\/em> were at the center of a polemic by physician Philippe Hecquet, who wrote on the indecency of male birthing attendants. Guillaume Mauquest de la Motte, who responded with a defense of accoucheurs<\/em>, argued that the skills and expertise that accoucheurs<\/em> have are necessary to save both mother and child. This midwifery debate<\/a> was more about whether physicians or surgeons are the best medical providers, rather than justifying or challenging the role of midwives. Change was coming. Only seven years later, the first school for surgeons opened in Paris in 1725, and from then on, surgeons\u2019 training began to resemble the training of physicians.<\/p>\n

Guillaume Mauquest de la Motte is also the author of one of the best treatises on childbirth (Trait\u00e9 complet des accouchements,<\/em> 1721), which was also very popular and had multiple editions. Mauquest de La Motte (1655-1737) studied at the H\u00f4tel-Dieu. After obtaining his degree, he returned to his native region of France and established a practice in Valognes in 1701. He became well known and sought after, because he gained a reputation among women for delivering babies safely. He attended to three or four deliveries daily, and he practiced surgery and obstetrics for more than fifty years. The books he published helped solidify his reputation, because his writing was grounded in his extensive experience.<\/p>\n\n\t\t