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This clip shows natural birth pioneer Dr Michel Odent explaining his view about the adverse changes that occurred in the birthing process during the 17th century when doctors became involved. Footage of Dr Odent is interspersed with a series of woodcuts showing women in various birthing positions. A female voice-over narrates the changes in the birthing process over time and Dr Odent describes the changes brought in by doctors who, he claims, acquired more control over the birthing process through the use of forceps. He goes on to describe the development of the science of obstetrics and the subsequent practice of women giving birth in hospitals.

Educational value points

• Dr Michel Odent (1930–) is a French obstetrician who is an expert in, and promoter of, natural childbirth. Odent introduced the concept of natural birthing, which includes the use of birthing pools and birthing rooms designed to offer a gentler, less clinical atmosphere for women giving birth. Natural childbirth practitioners advocate no, or minimal, drug use and minimal intervention. Odent is the author of approximately 50 scientific papers on childbirth and health research, and has also written 11 books on these subjects, which have been published in 21 languages.

• Natural childbirth is claimed to benefit both the mother and the baby, giving the mother more control over her experience. Advocates claim that the baby born naturally is more alert at birth because it does not have drugs in its bloodstream and that the mother and baby will bond more easily. Natural childbirth can take place at home, or in a hospital with a birthing centre and staff specifically trained for the purpose. As a result of the work done by people such as Dr Odent, the use of midwives has regained popularity, and today they are available in most hospitals. There has also been a revival of home births, and men are now becoming actively involved in the birthing process.

• Until the 17th century midwifery was one of the few areas of medicine in which female practitioners dominated, as it was the traditional role of women to assist women in childbirth. Until that time doctors, who were male, were not permitted to attend births. The predominance of midwives began to decrease with the development of a more scientific approach towards childbirth during the Renaissance.

• In Europe from the late 14th century to the 17th century many midwives were accused of being witches and were burnt at the stake. The Catholic and Protestant churches persecuted these women, who were considered to be followers of the devil and therefore heretics and enemies of the Christian churches. Accusations of witchcraft could be tried in civil law courts. The term 'witch-hunt’ has come to denote a search for a scapegoat and usually involves a hysterical and dishonest accusation of wrongdoing.

• Obstetrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the care of a woman and her infant during pregnancy, childbirth and after birth. Obstetrix is the Latin word for midwife and the practice of obstetrics grew out of the practice of midwifery. Medically trained male midwives, known as accoucheurs, began practising in France in the 18th century. The practice was then adopted in England. Today, only medically trained doctors can practise obstetrics.

• Obstetrical forceps are hand-held tongs-like instruments used to assist in some difficult childbirths. Forceps hold an object firmly but delicately and obstetric forceps grasp the infant’s head or other body part and have a locking mechanism that prevents them from squeezing the baby’s head too tightly. Forceps were invented by Peter Chamberlen (1560–1631) in London around 1600 and kept secret by his family for several generations until the forceps design became public knowledge around 1730.

• The clip shows woodcuts illustrating early birthing practices. Woodcuts originated in China and appeared in Europe by the 15th century. They are made by cutting a design or illustration into a block of wood, leaving a raised surface that is then inked and pressed onto paper or fabric. Early woodcuts were crude with thick outlines and little shading. The Rosengarten, an early-16th-century textbook on obstetrics published in Germany, included woodcuts to illustrate various obstetric practices.

This clip starts approximately 18 minutes into the documentary.

Dr. Michel Odent is being interviewed.
Dr. Michel Odent I think medicine started to go the wrong way during the 17th Century, the time when the doctors entered the birthing room, we have to recall during the 16th Century, birth was absolutely women business. We have to recall for example that in humble Germany during the 16th Century a doctor was condemned to death and burnt alive because he disguised himself as a woman to see a birth.
We see old drawings depicting women during childbirth.
Narrator Michel doesn’t believe that childbirth has always been a conflict between men and women. To him, the history of childbirth reveals the extent that society has taken over a private function. There are anecdotal stories that early women went away from the tribe and gave birth by rivers and streams but as people came to live in communities, birth moved to the home. It was usually attended by the mother of the pregnant woman and later, women in the community who became known as midwives. Their role was not only to deliver the baby, but to perform the rituals of the group. Midwives thus became powerful members of society and their influence was resented by the male-dominated church. During the Middle Ages, millions were persecuted as witches and male doctors were encouraged to take their place.
Dr Michel So the big turning point is in the 17th Century when the doctors introduced their new tools – the forceps. So from that time, modern obstetrics started with its own priority. From that time, the priority of obstetrics has been to know at any time what’s happening, to control what’s happening and to be ready to do something. This attitude can help us to understand everything starting in the 17th Century. Why the doctors put the women on the back — to control better a labouring woman if she is on her back. That’s why it became fashionable to concentrate the birth in huge hospitals — you control much better all these births if they are controlled in the same building.