Angelique du Coudray
Encyclopedia
Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray (1712, Paris – 1789, France) was a royal midwife in the court of Louis XV of France
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Born into an eminent French medical family she became the head accoucheuse at the Hotel Dieu in Paris
Du Coudray invented the first lifesize obstetrical
mannequin, for practicing mock births. This was a life-sized female torso which used an actual foetus as the baby. The invention is often attributed to Englishman William Smellie
, but the French Academy of Surgeons approved Du Coudray's model in 1758 giving her prior claim on the invention.
She published an early midwifery textbook, Abrégé de l'art des accouchements (The Art of Obstetrics) in, 1759.
In 1759, the king commissioned her to teach midwifery to peasant women in an attempt to reduce infant mortality. Between 1760 to 1783, she travelled all over rural France, sharing her extensive knowledge with poor women. She is estimated to have trained some 4,000 women.
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
.
Born into an eminent French medical family she became the head accoucheuse at the Hotel Dieu in Paris
Du Coudray invented the first lifesize obstetrical
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
mannequin, for practicing mock births. This was a life-sized female torso which used an actual foetus as the baby. The invention is often attributed to Englishman William Smellie
William Smellie (obstetrician)
William Smellie was a Scottish obstetrician.He practiced medicine before getting a licence, but enrolled later at the University of Glasgow and received his M.D. degree in 1745. After training in obstetrics in London and Paris, he opened a practice in London and began teaching...
, but the French Academy of Surgeons approved Du Coudray's model in 1758 giving her prior claim on the invention.
She published an early midwifery textbook, Abrégé de l'art des accouchements (The Art of Obstetrics) in, 1759.
In 1759, the king commissioned her to teach midwifery to peasant women in an attempt to reduce infant mortality. Between 1760 to 1783, she travelled all over rural France, sharing her extensive knowledge with poor women. She is estimated to have trained some 4,000 women.
Sources
- Angélique du Coudray at the Dinner Party database, Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
- Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology By Autumn Stanley, Page 234. Published 1995, Rutgers University Press. (at Google books)
- The King's Midwife : A History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray, by Nina Rattner Gelbart, Berkeley : University of California Press, (1998). ISBN 0520210360 (At Worldcat)