The switch from traditional midwives to"male midwives" is one of the interesting themes of this chapter. It seems to me that genteel women gradually started to use physicians for two reasons:a)to differentiate themselves from the working class countrywomen and b)to ensure better results for childbirth.

Granted,this is a time period when one of the leading notions was that a sickly mother guaranteed a healthy child(?) but I do think that the ladies felt that it was more modern to use a doctor. You could agrue that men were taking over but it does seem to be the choice of the ladies themselves. After courtship,motherhood seems to be the other spotlight that women could step in and recieve the total attentions of society.