Duke Homestead State Historic Site

Duke Homestead will be closed Friday, April 3 for Good Friday. Join us Saturday morning, April 4, for our Spring Egg Hunt!

The women who gave birth at Duke Homestead likely delivered with the help of a midwife rather than a doctor. However, in the mid-1800s, hiring a doctor for childbirth was an increasingly popular option.

The 19th century was a moment of transition in medicine, as doctors in the new field of obstetrics began taking over midwives’ role in facilitating childbirth. While midwives typically let natural processes happen, doctors favored instruments. In this time period, doctors were almost exclusively male, and midwives female. By the gender standards of the time, the scientific use of instruments was seen as men’s purview alone.

Forceps were one such instrument. Although forceps were intended to gently cup the baby’s head, doctors often caused injury to the baby or mother with forceps because of the aggressive way they used them. Forceps in use in the 1800s were often longer than the forceps used today, and more imperfectly designed.

To learn more about midwives and doctors in the 19th century, join us for our Born at Duke Homestead program every Saturday in March at 11:15am and 2:15pm!

(Image by Allie Mullin: A look at the difference between a simple midwife birthing kit--soap, lard, scissors, cloth--and the more involved instruments used by doctors, including forceps. This was taken at our annual Born at Duke Homestead event.)