The proposed formation of an inferior order of midwifery practitioners, or, a plea for the supplying of the highest medical aid to all women during pregnancy and childbirth. / by Robert Reid Rentoul.

  • Rentoul, Robert Reid, -1925.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The proposed formation of an inferior order of midwifery practitioners, or, a plea for the supplying of the highest medical aid to all women during pregnancy and childbirth. / by Robert Reid Rentoul. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    grant certificates to fnedtcal, or to surgical nurses, which profess to qual- ify such nurses to practise medicine or surgery. 8. —That as the Royal College of Physicians London ; the Royal Col- lege of Surgeons England ; and the Royal College of Physicians Ireland, have ceased to grant the single certificate in midwifery alone, the action of these practitioners who grant the certificates complained of, is calcu- lated to be injurious to the pubhc interest ; to bring about a retro- grade movement ; and, by reverting to the effete and dangerous system of supplying the public with partially educated anApartialIx qualified practitioners, to degrade the practice of midwifeiy, and to act as a dan- ger to pregnant women, and to infants. 9. —That as the Royal Commissioners on the Medical Acts reported in 1882, as follows :—there is no point of medical reform on which there is so general an agreement as that the holding of a license ought to imply the possession of a complete qualification for practice—that is to say, the attainment cf a sufficient standard of proficiency in all the es- sential branches of medical practice—medicine, surgery, and midwifery ; and as this Recommendation has been embodied in the Medical Act 1886, your petitioners hold that the action of the practitioners complained of tends to repeal the Educational Sections of the Medical Act 1886 ; and to degrade and demoralize the profession of medicine by placing it in con- tact with, and on a quasi equality with an inferior order of midwifery practitioners, and in direct competition with it. 10. —That if an Act were passed which would legally entitle so-called midwives to practise midwifery after each had been trained for a period varying from three to six months, and at a cost of from seven to twenty-six pounds, such legislation would be grossly unfair, and an injus- tice to those medical practitioners who now practise midwifery; who have studied as students for at least five years; and expended sums varying from ;^4oo to £600 on their education, examinations, and registration. 11. — That if any portion of the public wish to obtain the services of wotnen midwifery practitioners, such practitioners at present exist, as by the Medical Act (Qualification) 1876, women are now legally entitled to study medicine, and register in the Medical Register. 12. —That the statement made by those who favour the formation of an inferior order of midwifery practitioners, as to England being the only country in which midwives are not registered, is very misleading- seeing that this country is more in advance, and much better provided with medical practitioners, than are continental countries ; and that if their example were followed, a marked retrograde and dangerous step