Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Authority, Expertise and German Midwifery's Contribution to Debates of Nature versus Science
- 1 Expertise, Authority and the Written Record: An Overview of Midwives' Evolving Role in the Public Sphere
- 2 From Storchtanten to Gebildete Frauen: The Roots of Modern Professionalization
- 3 Birthing under the Swastika: Indoctrinating Midwives into the Nazi Pro-Natalist State
- 4 Strong Hands and Steady Demeanour: Identifying the Characteristics of an Ideal Midwifery Student
- 5 Babies, Bottles and Bureaucracy: Course Curriculum, World Views and Essential Knowledge for a Midwife
- 6 The Art and Science of Childbirth: Constructing Midwifery and Obstetrical Textbooks
- Conclusion: Modern Professional Midwifery
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
3 - Birthing under the Swastika: Indoctrinating Midwives into the Nazi Pro-Natalist State
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Authority, Expertise and German Midwifery's Contribution to Debates of Nature versus Science
- 1 Expertise, Authority and the Written Record: An Overview of Midwives' Evolving Role in the Public Sphere
- 2 From Storchtanten to Gebildete Frauen: The Roots of Modern Professionalization
- 3 Birthing under the Swastika: Indoctrinating Midwives into the Nazi Pro-Natalist State
- 4 Strong Hands and Steady Demeanour: Identifying the Characteristics of an Ideal Midwifery Student
- 5 Babies, Bottles and Bureaucracy: Course Curriculum, World Views and Essential Knowledge for a Midwife
- 6 The Art and Science of Childbirth: Constructing Midwifery and Obstetrical Textbooks
- Conclusion: Modern Professional Midwifery
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
From inconspicuous links, individual pieces, which alone are without meaning, form a golden chain, the coronet. Only upon completion does it shine, giving us the suggestion of eternity.
Ludwig FinckThe sin against blood and race is the original sin of this world and the end of humanity.
Adolf HitlerThe occupation of a midwife not only plays an important role in terms of public health, but also in terms of public education and thereupon carries with it a significant degree of responsibility for the life and the future of our Volk.
National Socialist midwifery textbook 1943Thanks to the concerted effort put forth by Olga Gebauer and others, the last decades of the nineteenth and the first three decades of the twentieth century saw German midwifery make the transition from a vocation in crisis to an organized profession complete with associations, journals and regular meetings. However, the practice was not entirely problem free. Educational curricula were still developed regionally, course length had not yet been standardized and there was discord among the ranks as some midwives grew disillusioned with the sheer number of independent collectives that had re-emerged early in the new century. There was also still a perceived overabundance of midwives at a time when falling birth rates did not provide adequate work. Answers for many of these problems soon came from a surprising source: Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists. A regime rightly known more for its overwhelmingly destructive ideology than for positive contributions, the Third Reich nevertheless proved to be of great assistance in the modernization of German midwifery. The Nazi era saw midwives realize many of the goals they had first articulated during that initial meeting in the Berlin café.
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- Information
- Modern German Midwifery, 1885–1960 , pp. 57 - 94Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014