Article ID: CBB000770627

Birth Attendants in Meiji Japan: The Rise of a Medical Birth Model and the New Division of Labour (2006)

unapi

This article analyses two kinds of medical textbook for midwives published in Japan in the Meiji period (1868--1912), and compares them with the oldest extant guide published in the Edo period (1603--1867). Meiji textbooks, which became foundational to the rise of `new-midwives', were written by a local hygiene officer in the 1880s, and later by obstetric-gynaecologists. Both these groups emerged as `modern' professions in the late nineteenth century, when the government was trying to build a militarily strong, industrially competent state similar to western countries. The textbooks presented knowledge comparable to that in western counterparts. They revealed a clear departure from the Edo tradition, especially in relation to the role of midwives during the process of birth and the use of the hand. The article seeks to demonstrate that the epistemology of scientific midwifery reflected the political, social and professional position and aspirations of these two medical groups. It also argues that the emergence of `new-midwifery' in Meiji Japan, which has usually been seen as part of the `westernisation' of medicine, should not be interpreted in terms of a natural flow of knowledge from west to east.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000770627/

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Authors & Contributors
Schlumbohm, Jürgen
Woods, Robert
Evans, Jennifer
Meehan, Ciara
Williams, Samantha
Tunc, Tanfer Emin
Concepts
Medicine
Nurse midwives
Obstetrics and pregnancy
Childbirth
Professions and professionalization
Physicians; doctors
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
17th century
16th century
20th century
Meiji period (Japan, 1868-1910)
Places
Great Britain
Southern states (U.S.)
Bahia (Brazil)
England
Puerto Rico
Zurich (Switzerland)
Institutions
Universität Göttingen
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