After reading this week's article (you'll find it under "assignments" on the course Blackboard site), please write a paragraph or two in which you discuss the following:
1. Martha Ballard's role in society (both as a worker and as a woman) - why is it significant?
2. The basis of Ulrich's evidence and how she uses this evidence to construct a narrative
3. Your impression of the article (Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not? Provide specific examples to explain what you did or did not enjoy about the article).
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Lauren McTigue
ReplyDeleteThe article discusses that Ballard's role as a midwife in her town was respected and valued by most. While physicians wrote off midwife practices as posing a danger to the mother and infant, Ballard's diary shows that out of the 814 births she aided, there were very few deaths of mother and/or child. The significance in this is that the accounts found in Ballard's diary debunk some early to mid 20th century notions that modern medical science reigns superior to midwife practices, according to Ulrich. Ballard, in fact, would have been preferred over a young physician as the article explains experience was the ultimate predictor of one's ability to safely deliver a child.
Ulrich does an impressive job, in my opinion, of analyzing Ballard's diary and pulls from other 18th and early 19th century records discussing childbirth to illustrate her point that Ballard and other midwives were not engaged in primitive practices to deliver infants. A final point she makes that struck me is that childbirth is, after all, a "natural process."
I enjoyed this article because of its success in giving due credit to midwifery in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Ulrich provides sufficient facts regarding different diseases that could have affected women giving birth, and the article is fair to both physicians and midwives at this time. While Ballard is the focus, Ulrich does not disregard the role of physicians and even shows how they were occasionally (though rarely) involved in Ballard's deliveries. I also found it very interesting to read about the credit Ballard almost always gave to God and a "divine assistance" during deliveries.
Jenni MacDuff
ReplyDeleteThe article discusses the debate between traditional midwifery and physicians with their new medical techniques. It talks about Martha Ballard and her role as a midwife in Maine. Male physicians were trying to discredit midwives, however if you look at Ballard's death rates from delivery compared to other physicians, you can see her skills were superior. Her records prove that experience of a midwife trumps the eager, unexperienced young physicians. It also proves that as far as child birth is concerned, success comes from interfering as little as possible. Even though Ballard was a woman, she only called for help from a physican twice in her 814 deliveries. She also had no problem pointing out the flaws of male physicians. She proved to be a strong, successful woman and midwife.
The basis of Ulrich's evidence consists of the diary of Martha Ballard (midwife), english obstetrical literature, physicians' and midwives' records, and the papers of Dr. Jeremiah Barker. Ulrich is able to incorporate key points from Ballard's diary, and combine those points with literature and statistics of other doctors and midwives of the time.
I enjoyed this article, because unlike most historical articles, it did not bore me. I liked the way that Ulrich pulled a "typical entry" for us to read, instead of over-killing it with too many entries of similar content. I also liked the tables provided with statistics. It was easy to understand and see the comparison. I also thought the flow between Ballard and the different physicians was done well.
1.Martha Ballard‘s role in society as a worker is significant because through her diary she was able to shed light on childbirth methods of the time. Through all natural practices and years of experience, Martha showed that safe childbirth was more statistically possible than one would be led to believe. As a woman, Martha was remarkable in the fact that she could instinctively know what another women was going through during the hours of labor. She had an unusual sixth sense that catered favorably to the laboring mother both physically and mentally.
ReplyDelete2.Ulrich’s evidence is very specific even in her brief account. Her resources were many and documentation was done well.
3.I enjoyed the reading tremendously because it explored the very essence of life. It is truly fascinating to see how delivery of a baby could be improved by the study of midwife accounts. Although after reading the article I believe wholeheartedly in midwifery, I do concur with Charles White’s assumption that environment affected mortality. Thus I do share this thought from White of Ballard “Because Ballard was a part-time practitioner who delivered women at home and shared their postpartum care with nurses and family members, she had little opportunity to spread puerperal infection from one patient to another. “ This idea is very different than what was occurring in London hospitals.
Matt Adamitis
ReplyDeleteMartha Ballard had an important role in her community as a midwife, and as a representative of the school of though that saw childbirth as a natural event. Despite a growing trend (especially in England) to employ interventions to ease and speed the process, Ballard chose to simply manage childbirth, rather than impede it. She embodied the principle that experience was more reliable than academic knowledge in obstetrics, and her proven record kept her in high demand even after she limited her duties because of old age. As a woman, she appears to represent the fact that women could be equal or superior to men in their chosen fields, even at a time when this wasn’t widely accepted.
Ulrich used evidence from Ballard’s diary, as well as the diaries and records of other midwives and physicians at the time, and records of fetal and maternal death rates to piece together her narrative. She also referenced the leading sources of medical literature at the time to support her argument that the natural practices of midwives were in no way inferior to the practices of more learned physicians.
I enjoyed this article because it emphasizes the adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Ulrich demonstrated the effectiveness of 18th century obstetrics, with its emphasis on a more natural birth, over the increasing death rates of the 19th century, being more prone to intervene in the birthing process. I also found the humility Ballard showed remarkable when she would chose to credit God, rather than her own abilities, during a successful birth.
A.J. Jewison
ReplyDelete1. Given the evidence in the reading, Martha Ballard's role in her society was not elitist in any way. She enjoyed a rather quite, simple life as a midwife in Maine. As the the author explains, her diary is filled mostly with everyday accounts of Ballard visiting friends and discussing the weather, but dispersed within the margins of her diary are entries explaining the babies she delivered. Her role was not doubt important, but her method of record keeping suggests that she was not overly-snobbish about her role as a midwife, it was her job and duty.
2. The majority of the evidence came from Ballard's diary. She explains that Ballard would write about the births in the margins of the diary and quickly explain who gave birth, the sex, and the father of the child. The fact that her entries are dispersed randomly throughout her diary reveals that midwifery was just a normal job for Ballard, nothing pompous at all.
3. I did enjoy this artical. At first I thought it may be boring. But as I starting reading I enjoyed the fluidity of the narrative. It offered a great introduction and clearly layed out what the paper was going to talk about. It also gave me just the right amount of background information to keep my interests and understanding of the subject high. I am a big fan of charts, so all the information about mortality rates in early societies was the most interesting to me, also the charts about the birthing track records of the different midwives.
Rachel Marciano
ReplyDelete1) Martha Ballard's diary discusses the differences between midwife birthing methods and the new techniques that physicians offered in those times. Ballard was a highly respected and reliable midwife, but in that time period physicians often accused midwife practices of being dangerous towards the mother and the baby. As a women Ballard was able to empathize with the mother in labor, which comforted the mother mentally and physically, making the birthing much easier.
2) Ulrich pulls practices from the 18th and 19th century when defending Ballard's methods as a midwife. Ulrich documented her case well, and combined the major points of Ballard's diary with the literature and statistics from doctors as well as midwives.
3) I enjoyed this article a lot because I think it is extremely fascinating that women were able to go through child birth with out any medical assistance back then. I also like that credit was give to the midwives, because with out them, child birth would be nearly impossible.
1. Martha Ballard was an important woman in her community for many reasons. First of all, she had nine children, so it was clear that she knew how to handle children and their births. She stood up for herself and other midwifes by letting nature take it's course, rather than trying to hurry the birth along like many "legitimate" physicians did in those days. This allowed for a much higher percentage of live births, which eventually made for a greater number of productive people.
ReplyDelete2. Ulrich mostly uses Ballard's diary for her analysis, as well as some other medical records from that era. She notes comparisons between Ballard and man-midwives, and regular physicians, who use forceps and other almost medieval methods of birthing.
3. I can't say I really enjoyed the article, but it was an interesting perspective on a topic I hadn't given much thought to. An interesting thing for me was seeing how consistent Ballard was with her journal. This enabled Ulrich to put out a compelling narrative that gives us a glimpse into the process.
Neil Maude
ReplyDeleteMartha Ballard’s role in post-revolutionary society was one led her to become a strong figure for her field of work and her gender. Martha practiced in a field that had great strife in it, she practiced midwifery. She was a woman who through sheer profession was dedicated and good at what she did. The article by Ulrich mentions her outstanding number of successes in terms of births. In a time period where death from labor (either child or child barer) was excessively common, this was a considerable feat. She was a strong figure for women as well, at a time when women were still treated as far from equal she strove to prove that she was not only equal to her male physician counterparts, but better.
Ulrich does a fascinating job of telling the story of one particularly successful and extremely well documented late 18th century midwife. For the 27 some years that she wrote in the diary, the other records pieced together from other physicians, and various other papers and literature, we understand much about Ballard and that certainly gives Ulrich credit as he has seemed to thoroughly investigate the subject.
This article was by all means a very essential understanding of late 18th century midwifery. The records and were very specific and detailed which gave the article a lot of credibility. For example this one statistics was one that was greatly beneficial to the article, “The diary records one maternal death for every 200 births. Today the rate for the United States is one per 1o,ooo” It was a long read, but it was one that was extremely informative!
E Garcia
ReplyDelete1) The article discusses the difference between a midwife and a male physician. The aticle consist of the life of Martha Ballard, midfive in Maine. Male physician tried to discredit the midwife by stating the midwife practices pose danger to the infants and the mothers. But Martha only called a male physician twice during her 814 births. her diary stated that she was preffered over male physiscian.
2) Ulrich facts were based on the diary of Martha Ballards, paper from Dr. Barker, and other record that discuss child birth at the time. Ulrich show that a midwife was anormal job since at the end the process of giving birth is a natural process.
3) I enjoy this article since it shows how difficult was at the time for a woman to do a job that was categorize for a man. We can see those problems now a days. In IL for every man $1 a woman earn 65-75 cents.
Jigisha Dalal
ReplyDelete1. Martha Ballard's role in society was very important. She was the midwife in the community. In her diary she talked about the differences between midwife birthing methods and other techniques by physicians. But Martha showed that safe childbirth was more statistically possible. For example, if you take a look at Ballard's death rates from delivery compared to the physicians, you can see her skills were exceeding expectations of many. And as a woman in that time period she showed that women could be equal or superior to men in their fields.
2. Ulrich used evidence from Ballard’s diary. She explains that she would write the name of the father, who gave her birth, and the sex of the baby in the margins. She would also add the comparison between the three (Ballard, man-midwife, and other physicians).
3. I really enjoyed reading this article. This reading is different than other historical readings. It was fascinating to see how delivery of a baby could be improved by the study of midwife accounts. And I also liked the tables provided with statistics. It was easy to understand and see the comparison between things. The article also flowed together well, which made it easy to understand.
The role Martha Ballard plays in society is significant because she provided a safe, and effective, means for a woman to give birth to their child. Ballard’s unprecedented level of success, in a time when childbirth was a much more complicated process, shows the effectiveness of her mysterious methods through her overwhelming rate of success. While many physicians tried to denounce Midwives as ill-equipped and unqualified to deliver children, Ballard proved to be much more effective than physicians in this task. She also spoke out against the “unnatural” methods used my most male physicians, and projected the idea that “experienced midwives were better equipped to handle difficult deliveries than officious but poorly prepared physicians” (Ulrich 34).
ReplyDeleteThe basis of Ulrich’s evidence is composed from sources that were vague and extremely incomplete. Ballard provides the most compelling evidence for Ulrich’s narrative, and proved that the practices of midwives were more effective than the progressive/”modern” practices of 19th century physicians. Ulrich uses Ballard’s thorough records to show the problems which occurred from the 19th century attempts to modernize childbirth, and prove that natural techniques, and experience were key traits for any individual who planned to deliver a child.
I enjoyed the article because it displays Martha Ballard as an influential person during a time when woman had little to no influence on anything. I also feel that people in post-revolutionary New England were able to look past the fact that Ballard was a woman, because of how important the successful birth of a child is to the parents. Ballard knew the importance of the act she was performing, and did whatever was necessary to ensure a successful delivery.
Martha Ballard was a significant person (and she knew it, the last line of the reading says) because she alone delivered hundreds of babies in the New England Area by herself working as a midwife. She did not start working until she was 43, and continued into her seventies. She is also significant in that she left a diary of her work, and from this work people nowadays are able to analyze by applying stats to her work, detailing the number of births, problems, infections, and infant deaths.
ReplyDeleteAs evidence, the wrtier of the article, Laurel Ulrich, using Ballard's diary. She has compiled Ballards lists of births, stillbirths, and ratio of births to stillbirths into a spreadsheet (Ulrich, 33). Ulrich then compares Ballard's stats to other midwives/doctors birth numbers at that time in America.
I enjoyed reading the article when I take it as a part of American history. But as with any article about medicine before the modern age, I am so glad to live in time I do know. For example, Ulrich mentions the purple fever and infections, and the crude methods the people used to cure them (flower and yeast). I cannot help but be thankful that my wife and two girls were brought into the world with the help of the best medical care possible.
Bal
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ReplyDeletePeter Nickell
ReplyDeleteMartha Ballard was in charge of comforting a birthing mother as well as assuring a successful delivery of a newborn child. She was a women in what eventually became a world dominated by males and the article gave us a sense that she was under appreciated in her time of midwifery. Very few deaths had occurred under her watch and she used very little drugs or mechanisms to help with eh delivery. Her knowledge was based on “experience” and “observation” as opposed to the physicians leanings. She was also a women, one of the females who took an interest in helping others and a well respected person amongst her peers. She was competing with males and trying to break through the pharmaceutical wall that was male only. She also criticized her colleagues (though in her diary) and there new drugs or devices. Ulrich seems to be arguing that she was more effective than the 3-4 men she compared her too, which she is correct but it just seemed to be a commentary on how much better women are then men. She had a few lousy male physicians compared to this modest, honest to goodness midwife. I am all for equality but it just seemed she picked the best person she could and compared her to the worst people that this girl came into contact with. The article was interesting but being a male myself I felt the feminism. Of course I am thankful that she was so successful, perhaps I am being a tad picky.
1. The role of the midwife seems to be a focal point, in a time when young physicians were popping up. Martha Ballard's success rate of only 14 stillbirths and 5 babies dying within hours of birth in a total of 814 proved that births were more successful with less outside interference and that her experience as a woman helped her to cater to the needs of an expecting mother. She was able to promote the use of midwives by pointing out experience was superior to the medical technology of that time. She was also able to promote the importance of natural births as well.
ReplyDelete2. Ulrich uses information left by Ballard in her diary. This provides important information about each child she delivered. Furthermore, when Ulrich analyzes the data and compares it to the results of other midwives and doctors of that era, the importance of midwives in that era is very evident.
3. This article was very unique, because of the accurate statistical evidence used. Because of how concrete the evidence is, one is able to understand the difficulties and issues that arose during childbirth, a process I think we nowadays take for granted. What has become a routine procedure at a hospital involved a lot more risk years ago. Also, the use of charts was great is helping relay info to the reader. I thought it was interesting how Ballard was able to prevent the spread of diseases present during childbirth by limiting the people she or the mother and child had contact with. This was indeed very different from the practices that were gaining popularity in England.
1. Martha Ballard's role in society was very significant. She helped birth children in the community as a midwife, and compared them to the ways of physicians, and proved that her methods were much more helpful, because the death rates were much lower during her births than physicians.
ReplyDelete2.The evidance the Ulrich uses is from Ballard's journal, and birthing statistics from other midwifes of that era. She has detailed information about the children she delivered, and the methods she used, and this was used to help show the importance of women like her in the society.
3. I enjoyed the article. It is interesting to see the drastic differences in childbirth between then and now, and most people these days don't understand how dangerous it was a long time ago. It was also interesting to see that the Midwifes were much more successful than the physicians at delivering babies.
1. Martha Ballard's Role in society depicted in this article is that of significance. She was an expert and highly skilled in the field of obygn, a profession that was then limited to men..and seemingly older men at that. The fact that she was a woman made her more successful and sympathetic about the work that she did. The fact that she had 8 children of her own gave her the experience and understanding of her work. Martha Ballard would have probably been extremley successful and ground breaking if she had the chance to attend medical school, and even be respected as a "doctor". This woman seemed like an individual who was "called" to help people and do this type of work, it is unfortunate she was not validated.
ReplyDelete2. Ulrich's evidence is largely antecdotal and non-conclusive as far as data goes. What she does argue, is that Martha Ballard had the skill that was unattainable by many young, male doctors because of social limitations. For years prior to enlightenment medicine, the birthing process was left principally to women; friends and family of whomever was giving birth...essentially women were more versed on the topic than men.
3. I enjoyed the article. I thought it was interesting to see the stats on death rate, and also the epedemic of fever. In addition i found it made a lot of sense that women in more rural areas died less of infection than more wealthy women in cities because of the "laying" process. It seems like common sense in this day in age that incubating an open wound of sorts would cause infection, but back then the connection wasn't immediate.
Jeremy Kohlenbrener
ReplyDelete1. Martha Ballards’s role in society was as a midwife that delivered babies using the delivery methods of the time. At this time in Maine male physicians were attempting to discredit the midwives and their techniques of delivering babies. Ballard was so significant because she was so good as a midwife that she had lower death rates in delivery than most physicians that gave women in their profession more credibility.
2. Ulrich’s evidence is based mostly on Ballard’s diary entries but also uses other medical records from that time period. Ulrich does a good job in constructing a narrative out of all of this information to give us an understanding of midwifery at the time.
3. I enjoyed this article because it was very well constructed and provided insightful information into how babies were delivered at the time. It really showed how dangerous it was to deliver a baby during that time period especially compared to now the article says that at that time there was, “one maternal death for every 200, today the death rate in the United States is one every ten thousand.” Giving birth back in that time was like going to battle for women.
1. Martha Ballard's job was a midwife who delivered babies. Midwives were under scrutiny from male physicians and were criticized for their techniques. Ballard received a lot of credit for maintaining a low death rate in comparison to male physicians and this gave other midwives credibility.
ReplyDelete2. The evidence is based on the diary entry from Ballard. Ulrich also refrences medical records to describe the profession of being a midwife.
3. I found this article to be just OK. I never gave too much thought to how babies were delivered at that time but I guess I am happy I learned something new. I thought it was interesting, though, how difficult it was to deliver a baby and that so many died. I found the mortality rate during delivery pretty interesting. "Today the death rate is one in every ten thousand," which is astounding compared to the 1/200 back then. Overall, I thought the article was OK.
Jordan Thompson
ReplyDeleteIn the article written by Ulrich, she discusses the role of Martha Ballard as a midwife in her town. The article discusses of Ballard's role was respected and accepted by most of the people. She was perfect for her role as a midwife because she was highly skilled in the field of obygn. She was very sympathetic in her work and the fact that she had eight children of her own made her very successful. She argued that experience should be regarded above the medical technology at that time and that a natural birth with less interference from the outside world is best.
Ulirch mainly uses the documents made by Ballard and also uses some other records that were written during the time. In Ballard's diary she has 14 stillbirths and 5 babies dying within hours of birth out of the 814 babies she recorded in her diary. Ulrich uses this evidence to show that Ballard's practice was successful and she was very important to others around her.
I enjoyed this article because it was interesting to see the differences in conducting child birth today as compared to back then. It is surprising to see that midwives were actually more successful in bearing children than physicians when we live in a time and place where all child bearing is done in hospitals.
Madeline Dick
ReplyDeleteThe article discusses Martha Ballard's role as a midwife during the late 18th through early 19th centuries in Maine. For this time period, she was an older woman, and educated through observation and experience rather than technical training and formal circumstances. Her story is important because she left thorough records of her rural obstetrics, which was uncommon during this time. Furthermore, they give evidence to support that increased medical intervention was not as superior to folk traditions as one might have thought. And, specialized care towards each patient can be more effective than producing theoretical explanations.
Ulrich analyzes records from diaries, medical records and other primary documents to prove her argument. She is specific in citing examples, and includes many quotes to establish authority in her article.
This topic is not one that generally interests me, but for what it is, the article certainly had redeeming elements. I liked that her strong point of view invoked a sense of enthusiasm in the subject matter, but I cannot say that I enjoyed reading about all of the complications of childbirth that are described in such detail.
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ReplyDeleteThe article talks about Ballard‘s life as an American woman and her role in society as a midwife. It also, discusses the debate about her traditional knowledge and the new physicians way of treating. At that time, midwife practices wasn’t in its best time, because physicians kept awarding people that such a practice is dangerous and could lead to worse consequences. However, Ballard had a lot of respect and she was able to prove her knowledge by recorded and gains everyone respect. Ballard’s kept a dairy recorded of her note and finding while working as a midwife.
ReplyDeleteThe basis of Ulrich's evidence was directly from Ballard dairy. It combined the important points that Ballard's followed along with other midwives methods.
Reading this article was very interesting and joyful, despite the complicated vocabularies used in this article. In somehow, the story gets you out of the mood of reading long histrical documents and even make you happy for the success that Ballard had in the end.
Robyn Petty
ReplyDeleteAs a woman who had 9 children herself, Martha Ballard was repected by her community as a midwife. Although practicioners saw childbirth at home as a threat to mother and child Ballard was successful with what she did. Through diary entries we see that there were very few fatalities, and during the time of most of these births, child mortality was not at all uncommon. Ballard could relate to these women and give them a comfort that a typical doctor probably could not. She was not professionally trained but had a lot of experience. Ballard's role as a midwife showed that not having outside help had a positive impact on the success of childbirth.
Ulrich uses diary entries and statistics to support her argument.
I did not find the topic very interesting but it wasn't a dull read either.
1. Martha Ballard's role in society was as the most effective midwife in her area. Through her diary historians today can also prove false some of the traditional stereotypes against midwives. Martha Ballard also helped to provide evidence that natural births were not the death sentence that many young doctors thought they were, and that intervention was not always the best practice for the mother or child. She also was impressive because she performed many births with a much less mortality rate than that of many of the young male doctors.
ReplyDelete2. Ulrich does a good job of presenting what little data is available to compare the works of Ballard to other doctors of that time. She uses medical records and Ballards diary to create a very effective table to display the different mortality rates. Ulrich also used the diary excerpts well to narrate the different problems with childbirth at the time. She also discusses Ballard's, and the docotor's reactions to these problems. Ulrich's use of these multiple sources was a very effective means of discussing the increasing complications with births during the 1900s.
3. I enjoyed the article, as previously stated I feel that Urlich was able to lay out and discuss the increasing complications with childbirth in a way that was interesting to read. I also feel that Ballard's life and diary was extrememly interesting as it proves false many of the myths against midwifery that are still present today. My favorite section was the comparison of Ballard to young doctors, and Ballard's own reaction to the young doctors. "Martha Ballard's nonscientific, even providential interpretation of events enabled her to treat each case on it's own terms. For every patient she did what she knew how to do and let God determine the outcome" (Ulrich 45). I felt that this was a very powerful message even today. As the medical community continues to advance we start to forget the more simple way of doing things, even if the more simple way was much less dangerous. It is important to show histories and stories like these to break the stereotypes against midwives, even today, as sometimes natural birth can be a safer way for both the mother and child.
Raed Khawaja
ReplyDeleteMartha Ballard proved the profession of a midwife was a legitimate and needed profession. She did not carry out her job as a physician normal would. She did not hurry along the process and thus she had a higher percentage of successful births. This was not only a breakthrough for her on a career and superior strategy front but it showed that woman were just as capable to perform in field which was reserved for those with a higher intellectual capability.
The evidence for these facts come from her journal entries, other physicians, and various medical records and journals at the time. We are given a pretty vivid account of being a midwife at this time and what it entailed thanks to these sources.
This was an interesting article to me because it showed the substantial effect true progress can make. Here we had a woman who simply did her job to the best of her ability and was found to have incredible function in it. At the end of the day, in general the public can be pretty good consumers and prefer that which is safer and more effective.
Michelle Booker
ReplyDelete1. Martha Ballard's role in society (both as a worker and as a woman) - why is it significant?
Ballard's role in society was that of midwife. As a woman she served as a helping aid for women giving birth. Her role was significant because she was responsible for many natural births in the 1700's in the town of Maine. Also, Ballard was very good in her position because her mortality rate was very low compared to other midwifes who birth less children then her.
2. The basis of Ulrich's evidence and how she uses this evidence to construct a narrative
The basis of Ulrich's evidence is Ballards diary and other statistical data of miwifes of that time period around the United States. She is using these documents to construct a picture of how dangerous the process of birth was back in the 1700's. Also Ulrich is able to emphasize the prevalence of disease and how outbreaks effected the process of birth.
3. Your impression of the article (Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not? Provide specific examples to explain what you did or did not enjoy about the article).
I enjoyed the article because it gave a great deal of insight into child birth in the 18th Century when there was no epidurals or pain relievers or trained physicians to assist pregnant mothers. This piece reminds me of a movie entitled "the business of giving birth".
Michelle Booker
ReplyDelete1. Martha Ballard's role in society (both as a worker and as a woman) - why is it significant?
Ballard's role in society was that of midwife. As a woman she served as a helping aid for women giving birth. Her role was significant because she was responsible for many natural births in the 1700's in the town of Maine. Also, Ballard was very good in her position because her mortality rate was very low compared to other midwifes who birth less children then her.
2. The basis of Ulrich's evidence and how she uses this evidence to construct a narrative
The basis of Ulrich's evidence is Ballards diary and other statistical data of miwifes of that time period around the United States. She is using these documents to construct a picture of how dangerous the process of birth was back in the 1700's. Also Ulrich is able to emphasize the prevalence of disease and how outbreaks effected the process of birth.
3. Your impression of the article (Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not? Provide specific examples to explain what you did or did not enjoy about the article).
I enjoyed the article because it gave a great deal of insight into child birth in the 18th Century when there was no epidurals or pain relievers or trained physicians to assist pregnant mothers. This piece reminds me of a movie entitled "the business of giving birth".
1. Martha's role in society is that of a midwife. With a job like this she not only takes on the role of a physician (during the pregnancy and birthing process) but she keeps society alive in a sense. With out her (as well with out other midwives of the time although Ballard was most popular), a lot of births would not be successful and the life of the mothers would be in jeopardy as well. As a woman she was a provider for her family and a comfort to families around Maine. She was a strong support for her community and very successful at her job.
ReplyDelete2.Ulrich constructs a successful narrative out of a few key elements. The main one of course being Martha Ballard's diary. She uses this in comparison with other accounts of midwives through the time period as well as information about the uprising of male physicians. With this data she creates a picture of a midwives' life and can show us how thorough and competent Martha was as a midwife.
3.I enjoyed this article because it was a change in subject material from what we have read in the past. In addition to this, the subject matter of midwives is something I am unfamiliar with and to learn about it from someone who was considered the best at what she did was a plus.