In “A Midwife’s Tale” Martha Ballard does an outstanding job in describing medical tasks she is asked to perform such as the delivery of babies, dispensing pills, preparing dead bodies for burial, and preparing herbs used for healing. On a broader perspective, she portrays the medical routines and procedures that midwives engaged in during the 16 th and 17 th century. The 21 st century has come with many scientific inventions and technological advancement that has significantly changed the face of medicine. Martha Ballard’s documentation of her medical endeavors provides the readers with a clear picture of how medical practice has developed over the past few centuries.
Martha fundamentally provides an assessment asserting that the clinicians at the time did not receive any formal training. All the medical procedures she performed were learned in a short period contrary to the medical and professional requirements of the contemporary world. “She later wrote that she delivered her first baby in July of 1778, less than a year after her arrival in Maine” (Ulrich, 1991, 11)Although Martha learned how to deliver a baby in less than a year, today, more stringent educational standards are required before a nurse, or a doctor learns the art of delivery.
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Secondly, medical practitioners of Martha’s time were “Jack of all trades,” meaning that they had knowledge of virtually every medical procedure necessary at that time. “When it opened in 1785, she knew how to manufacture salves, syrups, pills, teas, and ointments…” (Ulrich, 1991, 12). She further continues to document that she could induce vomiting, reduce swelling, and even lance an abscessed breast amongst many others. However, the medical practice today has markedly evolved with a strong emphasis on specialization. Universities and colleges focus on training different medical cadres to handle different medical procedures including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and physiotherapists among others. She was basically a “midwife, nurse, physician, mortician, pharmacist, and attentive wife” (Ulrich, 1991, 40).
The medical procedures at the time of Martha did not have any scientific bearing. Remedies were based on treating the symptoms rather than looking at the underlying reasons that could lead to the disease. First, there was little understanding of why the deaths of infants occurred during the delivery process. It was also difficult for medical professionals such as Martha to unravel the causes of disease such as scarlet fever that had rocked many societies at that time. "Martha could not have known that puerperal fever and scarlet fever grew from the same invisible seed-Group A hemolytic streptococci” (Ulrich, 1991, 44). On the contrary, microbiology has formed the basis of medicine today. Medical laboratories have enhanced an evidenced-based treatment mechanism whereby there is a rationale for the diagnosis and treatment of every disease.
Health professionals in the 17 th century were also closely associated with superstitious beliefs. “In western tradition, midwives have inspired fear, reverence, amusement, and disdain. They have been condemned for witchcraft…” (Ulrich, 1991, 43). The case is different today. With a keen emphasis on medical ethics, medical practitioners are expected to inspire morality and hope. During Martha's time, midwives were mostly painted in a negative light because of the pain associated with the procedures they oversaw. However, the medical professionals today including the midwives have an important role to play in the health care system, and their work is regarded as equally important as any other.
In conclusion, medical practice has significantly changed. During the 17 th century, treatment was mostly casual and had no scientific bearing. Professionals received little training and could perform many medical procedures without expertise in a single. However, the advent of technology and scientific development has enhanced evidence-based treatment where diagnosis and treatment are performed by specialized and well-trained professionals.
Reference
Ulrich, L. (1991). A midwife's tale: The life of Martha Ballard based on her diary , 1785-1812. Vintage.
