Jane Sharp had been a midwife in England for about 30 years when she wrote ‘The Midwives Book’ in 1671 (which has been reprinted by OUP: Women Writers in English 1350 – 1850, and edited by Elaine Hobby).

Here is an extract from the original book:
‘What must be done after the woman is delivered.
‘It will be profitable when a woman hath had sore travel (ie, travail, or labour) to wrap her back with a sheep-skin newly flayed off ,and let her ly in it, and to lay a Hare-skin, rub’d over with Hares blood newly prepared, to her belly; let these things be worn two hours in the winter, and but one hour in Summer, for these will close up the parts too much dilated by the childs birth, and will expel all ill melancholly blood from these parts.’

The reference to ‘melancholly blood’ is about the theory of humours, believed at that time. (These theories were developed by Aristotle and Galen, philosophers and physicians from ancient times). The four humours that circulated around the body were blood, choler, melancholy and phlegm, and the health of individuals depended upon the balance of these humours. Also, the humours determined the outlook of an individual – for instance, an optimistic person’s temperament may still in this day and age be described as sanguine (or bloody), or people may be said to be choleric or phlegmatic.

The balance of humours controlled the heat of the body. Men were usually hotter and drier than women, and therefore naturally superior. Indeed, it was the heat of their bodies that forced their genitalia to the outside. Women were colder and therefore their reproductive organs were kept within their bodies. Because of their cold, wet nature, women needed frequent sex. Their lust could be dangerous for men, sapping their strength and threatening their morals.

Jane Sharp believed that midwifery belonged exclusively to women. This was in a time when men – physicians and barber surgeons in particular – realised that man-midwifery could be a lucrative profession and were starting to muscle in. More on that later.