Editing Obstetrics (section)

=== History of obstetrics in America ===
The development of obstetrics as a practice for accredited doctors happened at the turn of the 18th century and thus was very differently developed in Europe and in the Americas due to the independence of many countries in the Americas from European powers. "Unlike in Europe and the British Isles, where [[midwifery]] laws were national, in America, midwifery laws were local and varied widely".<ref name="Roth">{{cite book | vauthors = Roth J | title = Pregnancy & Birth: The History of Childbearing Choices in the United States. | publisher = Human Service Solutions | url = http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/ }}</ref>

Gynaecology and Obstetrics gained attention in the American medical field at the end of the nineteenth century through the development of such procedures as the ovariotomy.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Baskett TF | chapter = Houstoun, Robert (1678–1734) |date= 29 March 2019 |doi = 10.1017/9781108421706.154 | isbn = 978-1-108-33671-0 | title = Eponyms and Names in Obstetrics and Gynaecology |pages=194 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> These procedures then were shared with European surgeons who replicated the surgeries. This was a period when antiseptic, aseptic or anaesthetic measures were just being introduced to surgical and observational procedures and without these procedures surgeries were dangerous and often fatal.<ref name="Lavers_2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lavers A, Yip WS, Sunderland B, Parsons R, Mackenzie S, Seet J, Czarniak P | title = Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis use and infection prevalence in non-cosmetic breast surgery procedures at a tertiary hospital in Western Australia-a retrospective study | journal = PeerJ | volume = 6 | issue =  | pages = e5724 | date = 2018 | pmid = 30386692 | pmc = 6202972 | doi = 10.7717/peerj.5724 | quote = Table 2: Types of procedures and association with surgical site infections (SSI). ''P''-values were obtained from Fisher's Exact test, unless otherwise specified. | doi-access = free }}</ref> Following are two surgeons noted for their contributions to these fields include [[Ephraim McDowell]] and [[J. Marion Sims]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vernon LF | title = J. Marion Sims, MD: Why He and His Accomplishments Need to Continue to be Recognized a Commentary and Historical Review | journal = Journal of the National Medical Association | volume = 111 | issue = 4 | pages = 436–446 | date = August 2019 | pmid = 30851980 | doi = 10.1016/j.jnma.2019.02.002 | s2cid = 73725863 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Ephraim McDowell developed a surgical practice in 1795 and performed the first ovariotomy in 1809 on a 47-year-old widow who then lived on for 31 more years.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rutkow IM | title = Ephraim McDowell and the world's first successful ovariotomy | journal = Archives of Surgery | volume = 134 | issue = 8 | pages = 902 | date = August 1999 | pmid = 10443816 | doi = 10.1001/archsurg.134.8.902 }}</ref> He had attempted to share this with John Bell whom he had practiced under who had retired to Italy. Bell was said to have died without seeing the document but it was published by an associate in ''Extractions of Diseased Ovaria'' in 1825.<ref>{{Cite journal |date= January 2016 |title=Iceman Ötzi may have had tummy trouble when he died |journal=New Scientist |volume=229 |issue=3056 |pages=17 |doi=10.1016/s0262-4079(16)30115-4 |bibcode=2016NewSc.229...17. |issn=0262-4079}}</ref> By the mid-century the surgery was both successfully and unsuccessfully being performed. Pennsylvanian surgeons the Attlee brothers made this procedure very routine for a total of 465 surgeries – John Attlee performed 64 successfully of 78 while his brother William reported 387 – between the years of 1843 and 1883.<ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Sieber WK |date= September 1970 |title=Total prosthetic transplantation of the inferior vena cava, with venous drainage restoration of the one remaining kidney on the graft, successfully performed on a child with Wilms' tumor |journal=Journal of Pediatric Surgery |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=694–695 |doi=10.1016/s0022-3468(70)80085-9 |issn=0022-3468}}</ref> By the middle of the nineteenth century this procedure was successfully performed in Europe by English surgeons Sir [[Thomas Spencer Wells|Spencer Wells]] and [[Charles Clay (surgeon)|Charles Clay]] as well as French surgeons [[Eugène Koeberlé]], [[Auguste Nélaton]] and [[Jules-Émile Péan|Jules Péan]].<ref name= "McGrew_1985" />{{rp|125}}

J. Marion Sims was the surgeon responsible for being the first treating a [[vesicovaginal fistula]]<ref name= "McGrew_1985" />{{rp|125}} – a condition linked to many caused mainly by prolonged pressing of the foetus against the pelvis or other causes such as rape, hysterectomy, or other operations – and also having been doctor to many European royals and the 20th President of the United States James A. Garfield after he had been shot. Sims does have a controversial medical past. Under the beliefs at the time about pain and the prejudice towards African people, he had practiced his surgical skills and developed skills on slaves.<ref name = "IWF">{{cite web | work = International Wellness Foundation. | title = Dr. J Marion Sims: The Father of Modern Gynecology. | date = 12 February 2014 | url = https://wellnessjourneys.org/2017/12/05/dr-j-marion-sims/ }}</ref> These women were the first patients of modern gynecology. One of the women he operated on was named [[Anarcha Westcott]], the woman he first treated for a fistula.<ref name = "IWF" />