_Decides to qualify herself as midwife--Meets great difficulties
due to being unmarried and too young--Studies privately under Dr.
Schmidt--History and organization of the School for Midwives: first
school established through Justina Ditrichin (obstetric surgeon
and writer about 1735); after her death, owing to the opposition
of medical men, educated women withdrew from the profession which
then deteriorated; it became legally standardized in 1818 with
the present school, and women of the higher classes returned
to the profession--Marie being refused for the third time, Dr.
Schmidt obtains an order from the King for her admission to the
school--Becomes assistant teacher under Dr. Schmidt--Receives diploma
of highest degree, and the class which she taught makes the highest
known record. (Eighteen to twenty-two years of age: 1847-1851.)_
My household duties, however, continued distasteful to me, much to
the annoyance of my father who still contended that this was the only
sphere for woman. From being so much with my mother, I had lost all
taste for domestic life--anything out of doors was preferable to the
monotonous routine of the household.
I at length determined to follow my inclinations by studying, in order
to fit myself to become a practitioner of midwifery, as is usual in
Berlin.
My father was satisfied and pleased with this idea, which opened the
way to an independent, respectable livelihood, for he never really
wished to have us seek this in marriage.
My mother did not like my resolution at all. She practiced, not because
she liked the profession, but because in this way she obtained the
means of being independent and of aiding in the education of the
children.
I persisted, however, in my resolution, and immediately took measures
to carry it into effect by going directly to Dr. Joseph Hermann
Schmidt, the Professor of Midwifery in the University and the School
for Midwives, and Director of the Royal Hospital Charité; while my
father, who for several years held the position of a civil officer,
made the application to the city magistrates for me to be admitted as a
pupil to the School for Midwives, in which my mother had been educated.
In order to show the importance of this step, it is necessary to
explain more fully the history and organization of the school.
About 1735, Justina Ditrichin (the wife of Siegemund, a distinguished
civil officer of Prussia) was afflicted with an internal disease which
baffled the skill of the midwives, who had pronounced her pregnant, and
none of whom could define her disorder. After many months of suffering,
she was visited by the wife of a poor soldier, who told her what ailed
her; in consequence of which, she was cured by her physicians.
This circumstance awakened in the mind of the lady an intense desire
to study midwifery, which she did; and afterwards practiced it with
such success that, in consequence of her extensive practice, she was
obliged to confine herself solely to irregular cases. She performed all
kinds of operations with masterly skill and wrote the first book on the
subject ever published in Germany by a woman. She was sent for from all
parts of Germany, and was appointed body-physician to the Queen and
ladies of the court of Prussia and Mark Brandenburg.
Through her influence, schools were established in which women were
instructed in the science and the art of obstetrics. She also taught
many herself, and a very successful and respectable practice soon grew
up among women. After her death, however, this was discountenanced by
the physicians, who brought it into such disrepute by their ridicule
that the educated class of women withdrew from the profession. This
left it in the hands of ignorant pretenders who continued to practice
it until 1818. At this time, public attention was called to the subject
and strict laws were enacted by which women were required to call in a
male practitioner in every irregular case of confinement, under penalty
of from one to twenty years of imprisonment and the forfeiture of the
right to practice.
These laws still continue in force. A remarkable case is recorded by
Dr. Schmidt of a woman who, feeling her own competence to manage a case
committed to her care, _did not_ send for a male physician as the
law required. Although it was fully proved that she had done everything
that could have been done in the case, her penalty was imprisonment
for twenty years. Two other cases are quoted by Dr. Schmidt, in which
male practitioners were summoned before a legal tribunal. It was proved
that they _had not_ done that which was necessary, yet their
penalty was no heavier than that inflicted on the woman who had done
exactly what she ought.
At this time (1818), it was also made illegal for any woman to practice
who had not been educated. This brought the profession again into
repute among women of the higher classes. A school for midwives,
supported by the government, was established in Berlin, in which women
have since continued to be educated for practice in this city and
in other parts of Prussia. Two midwives are elected each year, by a
committee, from the applicants, to be educated for practice in Berlin.
And as they have to study two years, there are always four of these
students in the school, two graduating every year. The remainder of the
students are from the provincial districts.
To be admitted to this school is considered a stroke of good fortune,
as there are generally more than a hundred applicants, many of whom
have to wait eight or ten years before they are elected. There is,
besides, a great deal of favoritism, those women being generally chosen
who are the widows or wives of civil officers or physicians, to whom
this chance of earning a livelihood is given in order that they may
not become a burden on the government. Though educated apart from the
male students while studying the theory of midwifery, they attend
the accouchement ward together, and receive clinical or practical
instruction in the same class from the same professor.
The male students of medicine are admitted to the university at the age
of eighteen, having first been required to go through a prescribed
course of collegiate study and to pass the requisite examination.
Here they attend the lectures of various professors, often of four
or five upon the same subject, in order to learn how it is treated
from different points of view. Then, after having thus studied for a
certain length of time, they present themselves for an examination by
the professors of the university, which confers upon them the title of
_M.D._, without the right to practice. They are then obliged to
prepare for what is called the State’s examination, before a Board of
the most distinguished men in the profession appointed to this place
by the government; these also constitute the medical court. Of this
number, Dr. Schmidt was one.
Dr. Schmidt approved my resolution and expressed himself warmly in
favor of it. He also recommended to me a course of reading, to be
commenced at once as a kind of preliminary education. And although he
had no influence with the committee of the city government who examined
and elected the pupils, he promised to call upon some of them and urge
my election. But despite his recommendation and my father’s position as
civil officer, I received a refusal, on the grounds that I was much too
young (being only eighteen) and that I was unmarried.
The latter fault I did not try to remove; the former I corrected daily;
and when I was nineteen, I repeated my application and received the
same reply.
During this time, Dr. Schmidt became more and more interested in me
personally. He promised that he would do all in his power to have me
chosen the next year and urged me to read and study as much as possible
in order to become fully acquainted with the subject.
As usual, I continued to assist my mother in visiting her patients,
and thus had a fine opportunity for explaining to myself many things
which the mere study of books left in darkness. In fact, these years
of preliminary practical study were more valuable to me than all
the lectures that I ever listened to afterwards. Full of zeal and
enthusiasm and stimulated by a friend whose position and personal
acquirements inspired me with reverence and devotion, I thought of
nothing else than how to prepare myself in such a way that I should not
disappoint him nor those to whom he had commended me.
Dr. Schmidt was consumptive and almost an invalid, often having to
lecture in a reclining position. The author of many valuable medical
works and director of the largest hospital in Prussia (the Charité of
Berlin), he found a most valuable assistant in his wife--one of the
noblest women that ever lived. She was always with him except in the
lecture room, and almost all of his works are said to have been written
by her from his dictation.
This had inspired him with the highest possible respect for women.
He had the utmost faith in their powers when rightly developed, and
always declared their intellectual capacity to be the same with that of
men. This belief inspired him with the desire to give me an education
superior to that of the common midwives; and at the same time, to
reform the school of midwives by giving to it a professor of its own
sex.
To this position he had in his own mind already elected me. But before
I could take it, I had to procure a legitimate election from the city
to the school as pupil, and during my attendance, he had to convince
the government of the necessity of such a reform, as well as to bring
over the medical profession. This last was not so easily done, for many
men were already waiting for Dr. Schmidt’s death in order to obtain
this very post which was considered valuable.
When I was twenty, I received my third refusal. Dr. Schmidt, whose
health was failing rapidly, had exerted himself greatly to secure my
admission. The medical part of the committee had promised him that
they would give me their vote, but some theological influence was set
to work to elect one of the deaconesses in my stead, so that she might
be educated for the post of superintendent of the lying-in ward of the
hospital which was under Dr. Schmidt’s care. She also was rejected in
order not to offend Dr. Schmidt, but for this he would not thank them.
No sooner had I carried him the letter of refusal than he ordered his
carriage and, proceeding to the royal palace, obtained an audience with
the king, to whom he related the refusal of the committee to elect me
on the ground that I was too young and unmarried, and entreated of him
a cabinet order which should compel the city to admit me to the school,
adding that he saw no reason why Germany as well as France should not
have and be proud of a Lachapelle.
The king, who held Dr. Schmidt in high esteem, gave him at once the
desired order, and I became legally the student of my friend. His
praise, however, procured me intense vexation, for my name was dropped
entirely and I was only spoken of as Lachapelle the Second, which
would by no means have been unpleasant had I earned the title, but to
receive it sneeringly in advance before having been allowed to make my
appearance publicly, was indeed unbearable.
On the third day after his visit to the king, Dr. Schmidt received me
into the class and introduced me to it as his future assistant teacher.
This announcement was as surprising to me as to the class, but I took
it quietly, thinking that if Dr. Schmidt did not consider me fit for
the place, he would not risk being attacked for it by the profession
_en masse_, by whom he was watched closely.
On the same day, a little incident occurred which I must mention.
In the evening, instead of going alone to the class for practical
instruction, I accompanied Dr. Schmidt at his request. We entered the
hall where his assistant, the chief physician, had already commenced
his instructions. Dr. Schmidt introduced me to him as his private pupil
to whom he wished him to give particular attention, ending by giving
my name. The physician hurriedly came up to me and grasped my hand,
exclaiming, “Why, this is my little blind doctor!” I looked at him and
recognized the very Dr. Müller with whom I used to make the rounds of
the hospital when I was twelve years old, and who had since risen to
the position of chief physician. This _rencontre_ and the interest
that he manifested afterwards greatly relieved Dr. Schmidt who had
feared that he would oppose me instead of giving me any special aid.
During this winter’s study, I spent the most of the time in the
hospital, being almost constantly at the side of Dr. Schmidt. I
certainly made the most of every opportunity, and I scarcely believe
it possible for any student to learn more in so short a time than I
did during this winter. I was continually busy, acting even as nurse
whenever I could learn anything by it. During the following summer, I
was obliged to reside wholly in the hospital, this being a part of the
prescribed education. Here I became acquainted with all the different
wards and had a fine opportunity to watch the cases by myself.
In the meantime, Dr. Schmidt’s illness increased so rapidly that he
feared he might die before his plans in respect to me had been carried
out, especially as the state of his health had compelled him to give up
his position as Chief Director of the Hospital Charité. His intention
was to make me chief accoucheuse in the hospital, and to surrender into
my hands his position as professor in the School for Midwives, so that
I might have the entire charge of the midwives’ education.
The opposition to this plan was twofold. First, the theological
influence that sought to place the deaconess (Sister Catherine) in
the position of house-midwife; and, second, the younger part of the
profession, many of whom were anxious for the post of professor in the
School for Midwives, which never would have been suffered to fall into
the hands of Sister Catherine. Dr. Schmidt, however, was determined
to yield to neither. Personal pride demanded that he should succeed
in his plan, and several of the older and more influential members of
the profession took his part, among whom were Johannes Müller, Busch,
Müller, Kilian, etc.
During the second winter, his lecturing in the class was only nominal,
often nothing more than naming the heads of the subjects while I had
to give the real instruction. His idea was to make me feel the full
responsibility of such a position, and at the same time to give me a
chance to do the work that he had declared me preëminently capable of
doing. This was an intrigue, but he would not have it otherwise. He
did not intend that I should perform his duty for his benefit, but for
my own. He wished to show to the government the fact that I had done
the work of a man like himself and had done it well; and that, if he
had not told them of his withdrawal, no one would have recognized his
absence from the result.
At the close of this term, I was obliged to pass my examination at
the same time with the fifty-six students who composed the class. Dr.
Schmidt invited some of the most prominent medical men to be present,
besides those appointed as the examining committee. He informed me of
this on the day before the examination, saying, “I want to convince
them that you can do better than half of the young men at _their_
examination.”
The excitement of this day I can hardly describe. I had not only to
appear before a body of strangers of whose manner of questioning I had
no idea, but also before half a dozen authorities in the profession,
assembled especially for criticism.
Picture to yourself my position: standing before the table at which
were seated the three physicians composing the examining committee, who
questioned in the most perplexing manner, while four other physicians
of the highest standing were seated on each side, making eleven in
all; Dr. Schmidt, a little way off, anxious that I should prove true
all that he had said in praise of me, and the rest of the class in the
background, filling up the large hall. It was terrible. The trifling
honor of being considered capable was rather dearly purchased.
I went through the whole hour bravely, without missing a single
question, until finally the clock struck twelve, when everything
suddenly grew black before my eyes, and the last question sounded like
a humming noise in my ear. I answered it--how, I know not--and was
permitted to sit down and rest for fifteen minutes before I was called
to the practical examination on the manikin. I gave satisfaction to
all, and received the diploma of the first degree.
This by no means ended the excitement. The students of the year were
next examined. This examination continued for a week, after which the
diplomas were announced, when it was found that never before had there
been so many of the first degree and so few of the third. Dr. Schmidt
then made it known that this was the result of my exertions, and I was
pronounced _a very capable woman_.