I feel that this section of the text illustrates the detrimental effects of a patriarchal society and additionally how patriarchy is directly related to the decline of midwifery. Medicine was a male dominated field, and when the practice of childbirth transitioned from a female, domestic process to a medical process, midwives were belittled and unable to educate themselves in these new practices. They were "kept ignorant" because the male obstetricians and male-run school systems wanted control over the sphere of childbirth which had previously been dominated by women. Therefore, women were forced out of their jobs and their social status and power was diminished.

Elizabeth Nihell was a midwife in the 18th century who strongly opposed obstetricians involvement in childbirth. Additionally, she vehemently opposed men's involvement in childbirth and felt that women were fully able to comprehend their own reproductive health and anatomy. She was exposed to much public scrutiny by her male peers. They criticized her and belittled her, believing that she was too radical and should not be in the public sphere. Tobias Smullet went so far as to call her a "lunatic" and implied that her belief in women's capabilities could be equated with lesbianism (Cody 1999).

Cody, Lisa F. "The Politics of Reproduction: From Midwives' Alternative Public Sphere to the Public Spectacle of Man-Midwifery." Eighteenth-Century Studies 32, no. 4 (Summer 1999): 478-487, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30053929 (accessed September 17, 2013).

Massey argues that the shift from traditional midwifery to obstetrics may have been partially due the obstetric atlases published by William Smellie and William Hunter. Smellie and Hunter were both male-midwives, but their atlases entwined the ideas of the medical community with those of the midwife community. This anatomical approach may have propelled the community to believe that female midwives were not capable of gaining this level of knowledge. Whereas childbirth had previously been a social issue, it was transformed into a medical issue by these atlases.

Massey, Lyle. "Pregnancy and Pathology: Picturing Childbirth in Eighteenth-Century Obstetric Atlases." Art Bulletin 87. no. 1 (Spring 2005): 73-91 (accessed September 17, 2013)

William Smellie not only contributed to the field of obstetrics and midwifery with his obstetrics atlases, but he was also the first person to correctly articulate and conceptualize the movement of the child down the birth canal and through the pelvis during childbirth.

Johnstone, R.W. "William Smellie. The Master of British Midwifery." The Quarterly Review of Biology 29, no. 1 (Spring 1954): 52, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2812400 (accessed September 18, 2013).

Rebecca Foster gave birth to a daughter a little over 8 months after her attack, which raised many suspicions. The child could very well have been her husband's. Isaac Foster left town only a few days before the attack, and therefore some questioned whether Joseph North was the the child's father due to the timing of conception. Unfortunately, those who questioned this inconclusive evidence did so on the basis that Mrs. Foster and Mr. North were having an affair. These suppositions were most likely detrimental to the verdict of this court case.

Ulrich, Laurel T., A Midwife's Tale (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 125-126.

Isaac Foster was a preacher who arrived in Hollowell in 1786. His father had also been a preacher, but had been removed from his pulpit for his controversial interpretations of the bible. Similarly, some men, especially Henry Sewall, argued that Isaac Foster should not be allowed to preach in Hollowell because his ideas were too radical. However, Mr. Foster continued to preach and Sewall was charged with slander against Mr. Foster. In fact, Josesph North was the judge on said case. Eventually, the town began to agree with Sewall, and Isaac Foster was removed from the pulpit in 1788.

Ulrich, Laurel T., A Midwife's Tale (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 104-114.

According to Martha Ballard's diary, Mr. North confessed that Mrs. Foster was justified in her accusation of rape, however, he would deny the charges.

Ulrich, Laurel T., A Midwife's Tale (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 116.

According to Kealey, "crimes against the person," which she defined as murder, physical assault, or sexual assault, had one of the lowest conviction rates at 59.5 percent. Similarly, once indited, the verdict of "not guilty" was highest for crimes against the person at 31 percent. In capital cases, the "not guilty" verdict for crimes against the person increased to 60.6 percent.

Kealey, Linda. "Patterns of Punishment: Massachusetts in the Eighteenth Century." The American Journal of Legal History 30. no. 2 (Spring 1986): 170 (accessed September 17, 2013).

If the jury had found Joseph North guilty, he would have most likely been mandated to pay fines or bonds as was common in most cases involving crimes against the person.

Kealey, Linda. "Patterns of Punishment: Massachusetts in the Eighteenth Century." The American Journal of Legal History 30. no. 2 (Spring 1986): 177 (accessed September 17, 2013).

Ether was first implemented in childbirth by Dr. James Young Simpson in 1847. Ether was used as an anesthetic to dull the pain during labor.

Newson, A.J. "All Here Agog With The Chloroform," Australian & New Zealand Journal of Surgery 70, no. 12 (Winter 2000): 862, (accessed September 17, 2013).