• MIDWIFE who delivered more than 2,000 babies
• Sometimes referred to as "Louise Bourgeois" (but don't get her confused with the 20th century sculptor of the same name!)
• PIONEERED innovative birthing techniques, such as inducing labor when placenta previa occurred
• INVENTED some of the earliest obstetrical instruments
• Wrote several books on childbirth, the most famous of which is Observations, a chronicle of her vast experience with pregnancy, labor, and postpartum care, published in 1609
• Observations is also the FIRST published book on obstetrics written by a woman, and was written in common language -- as opposed to Latin -- which enabled far more people to benefit from its life-saving insights
• Countered common -- and sometimes dangerous -- myths surrounding child birth, including the misconceptions that twins of the same sex don't survive, and that women were obligated to feel pain as atonement for Eve's sin in the Bible
• Stressed the importance of keeping the delivery room safe and comfortable for the mother
• Served as midwife for two French queens, including Queen Marie de Medici, whose first son would become King Louis XIII of France

Drawing of Louise Bourgeois Boursier by Achille Chereau [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Royal Risks

While serving as royal midwife brought Boursier fame and fortune, being such a prominent member of the cutthroat world of royal court was not without its risks. When Marie de Bourbon-Montpensier, one of Boursier's patients and sister-in-law of King Louis XIII, died a week after giving birth, the royal physicians conducted an autopsy that resulted in Boursier being blamed. Boursier defended her practice in a 23-page book, pointing out flaws in the autopsy report, as well as the fact that it was written by the doctors who had cared for the queen during her pregnancy and had cause to use her as a scapegoat. No formal charges were leveled against Boursier, but she -- wisely -- left the court, working and writing until her death. Contemporary examination of the autopsy concluded that the cause of death was not Boursier's fault.

Bibliography: Harvey, Joy and Marilyn B. Ogilvie. "Bourgeoise, Louyse." The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, Vol. 1. Routledge, 2000, 164.
Korshak, Yvonne and Robert J. Ruben. “Louise Bourgeois Boursier.” Extraordinary Women in Science & Medicine: Four Centuries of Achievement, The Grolier Club, 2013, 131-135.
Vare, Ethlie Ann and Greg Ptacek. Patently Female. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002. Print

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