Madam du Coudray

Often, the Enlightenment may seem to be an elite movement important on the political and intellectual levels, but removed from the concerns of everyday people and practical, everyday life. The career of Madame Angelique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray proves otherwise. Trained in the latest techniques and gynecological knowledge about birth, she made it her mission to pass her learning on to midwives throughout France. Often, these midwives had the best intentions, but their ignorance and reliance on folklore and tradition hurt rather than helped women in labor. By training thousands of midwives, Mme. Du Coudray probably helped to reduce the dangers and mortality of childbirth for both mother and baby.

1. The history of midwives attending and assisting at births is a long one. For a well-researched scholarly article on midwives in the Roman world, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/midwife.HTM
2. Given the dangers and mystery of birth, it is not surprising that fairy tales and legends sprang up about midwives; Madame du Coudray would have had to dispel many such folk beliefs. Read several such tales from the early modern period of European history at
   http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/midwife.html
3. For a website with many links to the history of health care and a contemporary illustration of a midwife attending a woman in labor, see
   http://www.mla-hhss.org/histlink.htm
4. Madame du Coudray retired in 178
5. Even in 20th-century America, the only healthcare available to poor, rural pregnant women (especially women of color) was often provided by midwives. See photographs of some of these midwives at
   http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query