Editing Gynaecology (section)

==History==
===Antiquity===
The [[Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus]], dated to about 1800 BC, deals with gynecological diseases, [[fertility]], pregnancy, [[contraception]], etc. The text is divided into thirty-four sections, each section dealing with a specific problem and containing [[diagnosis]] and treatment; no [[prognosis]] is suggested. Treatments are non-surgical, consisting of applying medicines to the affected body part or delivering medicines orally. During this time, the [[womb]] was at times seen as the source of complaints manifesting themselves in other body parts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dixon |first1=Laurinda S. |title=Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine |date=1995 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-3026-8 |page=15f }}</ref>

[[Ayurveda]], an Indian traditional medical system, also provides details about concepts and techniques related to gynaecology, addressing fertility, childbirth complications, and menstrual disorders among other things.<ref name="Govindan2002">{{cite book|author=S. V. Govindan|title=Fundamental Maxims of Ayurveda: Prepared for the Common People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-my-hS7mlkC&pg=PA142|date=November 2002|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-417-2|pages=142–143|access-date=2020-06-23|archive-date=2020-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709152429/https://books.google.com/books?id=S-my-hS7mlkC&pg=PA142|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Islam2017">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-981-10-3962-1 |page=134 |title=Chinese and Indian Medicine Today |date=2017 |last1=Islam |first1=Md. Nazrul |isbn=978-981-10-3961-4 }}</ref> These writings provide a post and prenatal care, integrating lifestyle practices, meditations and yoga, and a dietary regime for overall well-being.

The [[Hippocratic Corpus]] contains several gynaecological treatises dating to the 5th and 4th centuries BC.  Aristotle is another source for medical texts from the 4th century BC with his descriptions of biology primarily found in ''History of Animals, Parts of Animals, Generation of Animals.''<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9781474468541-014 |chapter=The Cultural Construct of the Female Body in Classical Greek Science |title=Sex and Difference in Ancient Greece and Rome |date=2003 |last1=Dean-Jones |first1=Lesley |pages=183–201 |isbn=978-1-4744-6854-1 }}</ref> The [[Gynecology in ancient Rome|gynaecological]] treatise ''Gynaikeia'' by [[Soranus of Ephesus]] (1st/2nd century AD) is extant (together with a 6th-century [[Latin]] paraphrase by [[Muscio]], a physician of the same school). He was the chief representative of the school of physicians known as the [[Methodic school|"methodists]]."

During the Middle Ages, [[Midwife|midwives]] dominated women's health concerns through experienced-based knowledge, traditional remedies, and herbal medicines. Midwifery was often regarded unscientific and was challenged with the rise of gynecology as an official medical field. The [[Renaissance|Renaissance period]], 16th century, brought about a resurgence of classical scientific advancements, including the ride of medical advancements in the field of gynecology and obstetrics. Figures like [[Ambroise Paré|Ambroise Pare]] were imperative in improving obstetrics techniques during this period. [[Peter Chamberlen the third|Peter Chamberlen]] developed the forceps, an important surgical tool that transformed childbirth and lessened maternal mortality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Oyelese |first1=Yinka |last2=Grünebaum |first2=Amos |last3=Chervenak |first3=Frank |date=2024-11-01 |title=Respect for history: an important dimension of contemporary obstetrics and gynecology |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jpm-2024-0348/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOopXRTVG_6J_5DuWj4VCS-sg1wpTZmXXG_SOKENWgSVlXvM5EPFa |journal=Journal of Perinatal Medicine |language=en |volume=52 |issue=9 |pages=914–926 |doi=10.1515/jpm-2024-0348 |pmid=39272109 |issn=1619-3997}}</ref>

=== Modern Gynaecology ===
As medical institutions continued to expand in the 18th-19th centuries, the authority of midwives was further challenged by men involving themselves in women's health practices and research.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Owens |first=Deirdre Cooper |title=Medical Bondage Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780820353036 |location=Athens |publication-date=2017-11-15 |pages=15–18 |language=English}}</ref> The formalization of midwifery training by male doctors and advancements in medical knowledge of women's health and anatomy was seen during this period. Figures such as [[William Smellie (obstetrician)|William Smellie]], [[William Hunter (anatomist)|William Hunter]], [[Paul Zweifel]], Franz Karl Naegele, and [[Carl Siegmund Franz Credé|Carl Crede]] contributed to understanding of childbirth and women's health in Europe.<ref name=":0" /> In the early 18th and 19th century United States, the field of gynecology held close ties to slavery and the Black women's reproduction. Figures such as Henry Campbell and Robert Campbell worked as genealogical surgeons on enslaved women, publishing their work in accredited medical journals that while advanced gynecological knowledge, simultaneously laid the foundation for medical racism, medical ethics atrocities, and discrimination that fueled the justification of slavery.<ref name=":1" /> Others, such as Dr. [[Mary Putnam Jacobi]], challenged the exclusion of women from medical education and shifted gynaecology to a scientific practice.<ref>Morantz-Sanchez, R. (1985). ''Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine''. Oxford University Press.</ref>

By the early 20th century, the American Gynecological Society was founded (1876), and later the [[American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]] (1951). There was also advances in antiseptic techniques, anesthesia, and diagnostic tools, like the Pap smear, which transformed gynaecological care.<ref>Briggs, L. (2002). ''Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico''. University of California Press.</ref> However, [[medical racism]] continued with forced sterilizations and eugenic policies that disproportionately targeted minorities. Currently, healthcare focusing on [[informed consent]], culturally competent care, and health equity.

===J. Marion Sims===
{{main|J. Marion Sims}}

{{See also|Mothers of Gynecology Movement}}
[[J. Marion Sims]] is widely regarded as the father of modern gynecology.<ref name="Semple1923">{{cite book|last=Semple|first=Henry Churchill|title=J. Marion Sims, the Father of Modern Gynecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5WomgEACAAJ|access-date=11 October 2013|date=1923|archive-date=11 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611084013/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5WomgEACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Isolated precedents exist for some of his innovations; however, he was the first to have published medical contributions such as development of the [[Sims' position]] (1845), the [[Sims' vaginal speculum|Sims' speculum]] (1845), the Sims’ sigmoid catheter, and gynecological surgery. He was the first to develop surgical techniques for the repair of [[vesico-vaginal fistulas]] (1849), a consequence of protracted childbirth which at the time was without treatment. He founded the first women's hospital in the country in Alabama 1855 and subsequently the [[Woman's Hospital]] of New York in 1857. He was elected president of the [[American Medical Association]] in 1876. Sims died in 1883 and was the first American physician of whom a statue was erected in 1894.<ref>{{Cite web |title=James Marion Sims (1813-1883) {{!}} Embryo Project Encyclopedia |url=https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/james-marion-sims-1813-1883 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=embryo.asu.edu}}</ref>

Sims’ legacy is widely controversial as he developed this new specialty experimenting on Black enslaved women, as recounted in his autobiography.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The story of my life. |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.storyofmylif00sims/?st=gallery |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Cooper Owens |first=Deirdre Benia |title=Medical bondage: race, gender, and the origins of American gynecology |date=2018 |publisher=The University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-5475-0 |edition=Paperback |location=Athens}}</ref> In this era, [[anesthesia]] was unprecedented and a focus in research. Its use was novice and considered dangerous.  Sims developed various of his techniques and instruments by operating on slaves, many of whom were not given [[anesthesia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Russ |first1=Joanna |last2=Daly |first2=Mary |date=1979 |title=Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3346672 |journal=Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=68 |doi=10.2307/3346672 |jstor=3346672 |issn=0160-9009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.5771/9780761850922 |title=Color Struck |date=2010 |publisher=Hamilton |doi=10.5771/9780761850922 |isbn=978-0-7618-5092-2 |editor-last=Adekunle |editor-first=Julius O. |editor-last2=Williams |editor-first2=Hettie V.}}</ref>  On one of the women, named [[Anarcha Westcott|Anarcha]], he performed 30 surgeries without anesthesia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wall |first=L. Lewis |date=2006-11-02 |title=Did J. Marion Sims Deliberately Addict His First Fistula Patients to Opium? |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jrl045 |journal=Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=336–356 |doi=10.1093/jhmas/jrl045 |pmid=17082217 |issn=1468-4373}}</ref>  In addition, during the [[Antebellum South|antebellum]] era, medical racism funded and founded science that supported the belief that Black people had higher pain tolerance, and white women proved unable to endure the pain.<ref name=":2" /> The lack of voluntary, informed consent and experimentation on Black enslaved women’s bodies during the antebellum era went ethically unquestioned in the medical community, and contributed to medical racism that perpetuated beliefs on pain tolerance, race, and gender that persist today.<ref name=":2" />

Throughout his career, he was invited by European Royalty to treat their female relatives of gynecological problems. His medical knowledge had been produced globally without acknowledgement of the methods delaying these techniques.<ref name=":2" /> When he left Alabama in 1853, a local newspaper called him "an honor to our state."<ref>{{cite news |date=22 Mar 1854 |title=Medical Journals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103992475/j-marion-sims/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618201151/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103992475/j-marion-sims/ |archive-date=18 June 2022 |access-date=18 June 2022 |newspaper=Sumter County Whig |location=[[Livingston, Alabama]] |page=2 |via=[[newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Currently, Sims’ experimentation on Black enslaved women is widely discoursed and criticized in the [[Journal of Medical Ethics]] and academic scholars.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wall |first=L L |date=2006-05-26 |title=The medical ethics of Dr J Marion Sims: a fresh look at the historical record |url=https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2005.012559 |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=346–350 |doi=10.1136/jme.2005.012559 |pmid=16731734 |pmc=2563360 |issn=0306-6800}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ojanuga |first=D |date=March 1993 |title=The medical ethics of the 'father of gynaecology', Dr J Marion Sims. |url=https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.19.1.28 |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=28–31 |doi=10.1136/jme.19.1.28 |pmid=8459435 |pmc=1376165 |issn=0306-6800}}</ref>

=== Puerto Rican Trials ===
Main Article: [[Contraceptive trials in Puerto Rico|Contraceptive Trials in Puerto Rico]] See Also: [[Gregory G. Pincus|Gregory Pincus]]

The birth control trails were initiated by [[Gregory G. Pincus|Gregory Pincus]], an American biochemist that contributed to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Pincus, Developer of Birth-Control Pill, Dies |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0409.html |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> Clinical trials of these contraceptions took place in [[Puerto Rico]], commonwealth of the United States, with the rationale of a necessary population control that closely followed [[Eugenics|eugenic]] ideology.<ref name="sais.jhu.edu">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-10 |title=Lights and Shadows of US Birth Control Testing in Puerto Rico: History and Implications for Other Latin American Countries |url=https://sais.jhu.edu/news-press/event-recap/lights-and-shadows-us-birth-control-testing-puerto-rico-history-and |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=Johns Hopkins SAIS |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Blakemore">{{Cite web |last=Blakemore |first=Erin |date=2018-05-09 |title=The First Birth Control Pill Used Puerto Rican Women as Guinea Pigs |url=https://www.history.com/articles/birth-control-pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref><ref name="pbs.org">{{Cite web |title=The Puerto Rico Pill Trials {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-puerto-rico-pill-trials/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref> The place of the trials was also facilitated by Puerto Rico’s ambiguous political relationship to the United States.<ref name="sais.jhu.edu"/> Furthermore, Puerto Rican women were already practicing other forms of [[birth control]], thus Pincus established these trials to expand accessible contraceptives and develop an oral pill.<ref name="pbs.org"/> Trials began in [[Río Piedras, Puerto Rico|Rio Piedras]] in 1956, and women were offered the pill, developed and named Envoid in 1960, on the basis that it prevented pregnancy without knowing the pills were unapproved by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) in the United States.<ref name="pbs.org"/> Dr. [[Edris Rice-Wray Carson|Edris Rice-Wray]], a professor at the Puerto Rico Medical School was aware and vocal of the negative side effects of the pill.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Lenharo |first=Mariana |date=2024-04-24 |title=Las Borinqueñas remembers the forgotten Puerto Rican women who tested the first pill |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01175-5 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=629 |issue=8010 |pages=32–33 |doi=10.1038/d41586-024-01175-5|pmid=38658720 |bibcode=2024Natur.629...32L }}</ref> However, the side effects were dismissed without further testing on the safety of the contraceptive.<ref name=":3" />

Today, this event still affects many Puerto Rican women with reproductive health complications and permanent sterilization as a consequence of the trials.<ref name="Blakemore"/> Although these trials do not follow modern medical ethic practices, these trials spearheaded the development of the first oral contraceptive and currently propel the establishment of equity rubrics and further medical ethics research in the field of gynecology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Batman |first1=Samantha |last2=Rivlin |first2=Katherine |last3=Robinson |first3=Whitney |last4=Brown |first4=Oluwateniola |last5=Carter |first5=Ebony B. |last6=Lindo |first6=Edwin |date=2023-10-01 |title=A Rubric to Center Equity in Obstetrics and Gynecology Research |journal=Obstetrics and Gynecology |volume=142 |issue=4 |pages=772–778 |doi=10.1097/AOG.0000000000005336 |issn=1873-233X |pmc=10510789 |pmid=37678908}}</ref> The women affected by these trials have been outspoken about their experiences with forced sterilization and birth control trials through a variety of medias, such as interviews, books, and documentaries like [[La Operación]] by [[Ana María García|Ana Maria Garcia.]]