Body verdicts: The Judgment of the Midwife in Early Modern Spain
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In early modern Spain, the work of childbirth assistants relies on a good sense of judgment, as well as astute decision-making. As midwives attend to women, they acquire knowledge by reading their bodies. They draw upon what their eyes can see, what their hands can palpate and what generations of female childbirth practice have taught them. It is through the body that midwives reach a verdict. But it is also through the body that they express this verdict, namely in their performance of technique and rite. In childbirth, midwives embody new-borns’ acceptance, they signify their future position in the world. Accordingly, in their cultural interpretation, these figures often assume the role of judges. This perception manifests most clearly in images of their divine equivalents. Yet, midwives are equally vulnerable to the judgment of others – and we can best observe these dynamics as we look at their most important instruments: their hands.