• The Mothers of Gynaecology

  • Aug 17 2024
  • Length: 28 mins
  • Podcast

The Mothers of Gynaecology

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  • Summary

  • In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins.

    This is the story of a 17 year old enslaved girl - Anarcha - and the other enslaved women who gave birth to the field of gynaecology. The year is 1845 and Anarcha has just had a baby. But there’s a problem. She is in great pain and her doctor, J Marion Sims, believes nothing can be done about it - at least at first.

    She has developed a vesico-vaginal fistula, a hole between her bladder and her vagina. This leaves her incontinent and in the doctor’s words: “aside from death, this was about the worst accident that could have happened to the poor young girl”. In search of a cure Anarcha would be experimented on 30 times. Julia and Adam hear from Dr Deirdre Cooper Owens, a professor at the University of Connecticut and the author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynaecology.

    Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw Producers: Simona Rata and Rufaro Faith Mazarura Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani Executive Producer: Jo Meek Sound Design: Craig Edmondson Commissioner: Dan Clarke

    An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4.
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