author

John Maubray

d. 1732

An early 18th-century Scottish physician and man-midwife, he became one of Georgian London’s most talked-about figures in childbirth and women’s medicine. He is best remembered for mixing practical obstetric teaching with bold, often controversial ideas about pregnancy and birth.

1 Audiobook

The Female Physician

The Female Physician

by John Maubray

About the author

Born in Scotland around 1700, John Maubray studied medicine at Edinburgh and went on to build a career in London as a physician and man-midwife. He practiced during a period when obstetrics was becoming more formalized, and he became known for emphasizing hands-on examination and teaching in midwifery.

Maubray wrote on childbirth and women’s health, including The Female Physician, and promoted a non-instrumental approach to obstetrics influenced by Dutch practice. Contemporary accounts describe him as a prominent and sometimes controversial figure in Georgian London medicine, with a reputation shaped both by serious clinical work and by the lively medical culture of his time.

He died in 1732. Although not among the best-known medical writers today, he remains of interest to historians of medicine for his role in the development of early modern obstetric practice and training.