Elizabeth Nihell

author

Elizabeth Nihell

1723–1776

A sharp, fearless voice in 18th-century childbirth debates, this London midwife became known for challenging the growing power of male practitioners. Her writing offers a vivid glimpse into medicine, gender, and controversy in Georgian Britain.

1 Audiobook

A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery Setting Forth Various Abuses Therein, Especially as to the Practice With Instruments: the Whole Serving to Put All Rational Inquirers in a Fair Way of Very Safely Forming Their Own Judgement Upon the Question; Which It Is Best to Employ, in Cases of Pregnancy and Lying-in, a Man-midwife; Or, a Midwife

A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery Setting Forth Various Abuses Therein, Especially as to the Practice With Instruments: the Whole Serving to Put All Rational Inquirers in a Fair Way of Very Safely Forming Their Own Judgement Upon the Question; Which It Is Best to Employ, in Cases of Pregnancy and Lying-in, a Man-midwife; Or, a Midwife

by Elizabeth Nihell

About the author

Born in London in 1723 to a family of French Catholic background, Elizabeth Nihell trained in midwifery in Paris at the Hôtel-Dieu. She later returned to London and practiced as a midwife at a time when childbirth was becoming an increasingly contested field.

Nihell is best remembered for her outspoken defense of women midwives against the rise of so-called "man-midwives." In 1760 she published A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery, a bold and often combative work that criticized leading male obstetric practitioners and argued that normal childbirth should remain in the hands of experienced women.

That made her one of the most distinctive medical writers of her era. Her work still attracts attention today because it captures more than professional argument: it shows how questions of authority, experience, and women's knowledge shaped the history of medicine.