French obstetrician Marie Louise LaChapelle (1769-1821) introduced many innovations to the management of childbirth, especially in the cases of difficult labor. She attended thousands of births and produced a massive three-volume book describing her observations and recommendations. Her book went through several editions and was an important resource for teaching the art of delivering a baby with minimal interference by the attendant.

For what little has been written in English about the life of Marie LaChapelle, history is mainly indebted to Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead, M.D., whose 1938 work, A History of Women in Medicine, devoted portions of seven pages to describing LaChapelle's life and accomplishments.

Born in Troubled Times

Marie Louise LaChapelle was born in Paris in 1769. The eighteenth century was a tumultuous time in French history. The country was engaged in wars throughout much of it, culminating in the huge upheaval of the French Revolution (1789-99). Revolutionary...