Osmanli Ve Cumhuriyet Dönemlerinde Ebelik İle Ebelerin Doğuma Ve İnfertiliteye Dair Müdahaleleri
Midwifery in Turkey in the Ottoman and Republican Eras and Applications of Midwifes Concerning Delivery and Infertility

Summary/Abstract: This study was carried out in order to determine the phases that the profession of midwifery, which is as old as the history of mankind, had passed through throughout the history; its role in social life and the focus and effects of the profession of midwifery leading to the development of (YUT-IVF), which is a new area of modern medicine. This study was conducted by examining documents from the Ottoman Archive and other related sources and by using the data obtained from the interviews and correspondences done with uncertified midwives in the past and interviews made with certified and uncertified midwives of today. It was determined that midwifery, which is one of the most important actors of traditional- ancient medicine, has evolved from the uncertified midwife to the certified midwife. Additionally, it was determined that the historical role, which the midwives took in the diagnosis and the treatment of infertility; has been reflected on the IVF studies of today. In our study, by highlighting two examples of midwives, who are uncertified / certified midwife Nefise (1842) and the midwife Adalet (2018), and by using documents from the Ottoman Archives, we determined the problems, changes and differentiations that the profession of midwifery faced within a period of 176 years. Besides, while determining the contributions and advices of Ottoman midwives in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility, within the frame of traditional- ancient methods of medicine, we also found that this accumulation of knowledge constituted the background for the professional historical development of embryologists in the modern Turkish medical community.

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