Sponsored by the Office for History of Science and Technology (UC Berkeley)
And the History of Health Sciences Program (UCSF)
Sean M. Quinlan
University of Idaho
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Monstrous Births, Medical Networks, and Obstetrical Authority in France, ca. 1780-1820
In France, between 1780 and 1815, provincial doctors opened a broad correspondence with medical faculties and public officials about severe foetal anomalies, or what contemporaries called monsters. These reports give an intimate insight into changing medical practices and values. Here, institutional and legal reforms caused doctors to encounter monstrous births with greater frequency, and raised new scientific, ethical, and emotional issues. In response to these encounters, doctors developed new theories about heredity and embryology to explain malformations and satisfy the public officials who wanted answers. Though these doctors achieved some consensus on etiology and pathology, they struggled to apply these ideas in real-life situations, especially when they dealt with cases of doubtful sex. In these instances, state interests and medical interests did not correspond, as doctors mistrusted personal motivations and testimonies. At the same time, ordinary practitioners were deeply disturbed by direct experiences with anomalous births, and they sought new obstetrical techniques and professional support to help in these cases. Consequently, doctors developed a new ethics for treating monstrous children, viewing them separately as pathological specimens, forensic objects, and obstetrical tragedies.
4:00PM
Monday, April 3, 2006
140 Barrows Hall
UC Berkeley
Office for History of Science and Technology, 543 Stephens Hall #2350
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2350
tel: (510) 642-4581, e-mail: diana@berkeley.edu
