Elizabeth Nihell

author

Elizabeth Nihell

1723–1776

A sharp, outspoken 18th-century midwife, she became known for challenging the growing power of male obstetric practitioners. Her writing gives a vivid, combative view of childbirth, medicine, and women’s authority in her time.

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, Elizabeth Nihell was an English midwife and writer of French Catholic background. She trained in Paris at the Hôtel-Dieu, a major hospital, and later practiced in London, where she built a reputation as a forceful critic of "man-midwives" and the routine use of instruments in childbirth.

She is best remembered for her 1760 book A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery, a long and energetic defense of female midwives and a direct attack on practices she believed were dangerous or unnecessary. Her work stands out not only as a medical argument, but also as a lively example of women pushing back against professional exclusion in the 18th century.

Although many details of her later life remain uncertain, Nihell’s name has lasted because of the boldness of her voice. Readers who come to her today will find not a quiet historical figure, but a writer who argued fiercely, personally, and memorably about who should control childbirth care.