] 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.

is that those male midwives -when the trend started-were much younger and better educated (not necessarily better educated according to our modern sensibilities since bleeding during the lying-in as a method to cure post natal depression might be highly questionable) at the best school available back then. There are many references to "old midwives" which might indicate an overaging among the established female midwives. Just a theory, though!