Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Besim Ömer and Writing the History of Midwifery and Childbirth
- 2 The Transformation of Midwifery
- 3 Abortion, Power and Agency
- 4 Pregnancy as a Site of Medical Intervention
- 5 Infertility as a Public Problem
- Conclusion: Gendering Nineteenth-Century Ottoman History
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
3 - Abortion, Power and Agency
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Besim Ömer and Writing the History of Midwifery and Childbirth
- 2 The Transformation of Midwifery
- 3 Abortion, Power and Agency
- 4 Pregnancy as a Site of Medical Intervention
- 5 Infertility as a Public Problem
- Conclusion: Gendering Nineteenth-Century Ottoman History
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
In May 1864, Sakratis, the pharmacist for the first battalion stationed at the Belgrade Fortress, was questioned about procuring abortifacient drugs for a Serbian woman, Isnato. Sakratis was a graduate of the School of Medicine in Istanbul, and he had been working as the pharmacist of the fortress dispensary since arriving with his battalion five years earlier. Isnato was a thirty-five-year-old widow working as a servant. She had illicit sex with a Mösyö Lasiko Pirötin, a fur maker, and suspected that she had become pregnant. Mösyö Lasiko Pirötin consulted Sakratis, probably through his acquaintance with another fur maker that Sakratis had previously treated for syphilis, and asked for help. Sakratis went to the house where Isnato was working to check on her. Isnato complained that she had missed her periods for the last two months. According to Sakratis's testimony, Isnato looked quite healthy with red cheeks and she did not have any particular signs of pregnancy such as headache or nausea. Telling her that such complaints are very common among women, Sakratis gave Istano six pills that he had prepared, but did not check her chest or belly. He also told her to drink chamomile tea to ease her soreness. Two days later, Sakratis went to the house where Isnato was working to determine whether the pills had worked or not.
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- Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014