Midwifery Lectures

Scope and Content

The lectures are split into two sections, the first entitled 'Midwifery by Dr Young Course 1st' running from 12 February 1770 to 26 April 1770 and the second 'II Course of Midwifery by Dr Young' running from 21 May 1770 to 30 July 1770. The lectures in both courses are all individually dated but not numbered and the numbers used below are for descriptive purposes only and represent the lectures in the order they appear in the manuscript.

The topics covered in the first course are as follows: (1-3) history of midwifery & key authors, (4) presentation of child, (5) female parts of generation and disorders of, (6) diseases of the internal parts of generation, (7) generation, (8) progress of the embryo, (9-10) difference between foetus & adult, (11) connection of foetus to mother, (12) nutrition of the foetus & change of the uterus during pregnancy, (13) symptoms of pregnancy, (14) attachment of the placenta to the uterus & uses of the placenta, (15) menses, (16) chlorosis [hypochromic anaemia] & too great a flow of the menses, (17) fluor albus [leukorrhoea], (18) disorders of pregnancy, vomitings, & effects of imagination on pregnant women, (19) floodings, (20) hysteria, (21) practical midwifery, (22-23) treatment of women after delivery, (24) treatment of children after birth, (25-27) diseases of children.

The topics covered in the second course are as follows: (1-2) authors on the subject of midwifery, (3) authors cont. & description of the pelvis, (4) deformed pelves, (5) case of narrow pelves & parts of generation in women, (6-7) internal parts of generation & disorders of these parts, (8) disorders cont. & generation, (9) different systems of generation & size of foetus at different times, (10-11) difference of structure between foetus and adults, (12) change of the uterus during pregnancy & connection between mother and child, (13) connection between uterus & placenta, use of placenta, nourishment of foetus, (14) menstrual flux, (15) disorders from the menses, (16) symptoms of pregnancy & touch, (17-18) disorder peculiar to pregnancy, (19) what causes these appearances & floodings, (20) prevention of miscarriage [spontaneous abortion], (21) II part, practical midwifery, position of child in utero, & preceding symptoms of labour, (22) treatment of the woman in labour & dress, (23) extraction of the placenta, (24) machines & demonstration of the abdomen, (25) laborious births, (26) forceps [surgical instruments], (27) speculum matricis, (28) caesarean operation, (29-33) preternatural labours [breech presentation], (34) umbilical cord about the child, (35) twins, (36) treatment of women after delivery, (37) diseases incident to women after delivery, (38) disorder between the 3rd & 6th days, (42) treatment of new-born children, (43) qualification of a good nurse & diet of nurses, (44-46) diseases of children, (47) milk & diet, (48) inoculation.

The volume bears the bookplate of the Radford Library, Saint Mary's Hospital, Manchester, which also indicates that it was allocated the reference number Q139 viz. their 1877 catalogue. The volume has since been referenced M6 Y55 as part of an alternative system. The name Robert Dobson is evident under the bookplate. There is no pagination and writing is on both the recto and verso.