Justine Siegemund: a midwife with a scientific mind

Today’s Doodle is dedicated to an amazing woman: Justine Siegemund (1636-1705), a midwife and author who had a truly scientific outlook and was a deeply pious Lutheran Christian. She is best known for her influential textbook on midwifery, “Die Kgl. Preußische und Churfürstl. Brandenburgische Hof-Wehe-Mutter” (The Royal Prussian and Electoral Brandenburg Court Midwife), which was first published in 1690 and went through many editions in the following centuries.

Siegemund began practicing midwifery in the early 1660s and quickly gained a reputation as a skilled and compassionate practitioner. She was appointed as a midwife in the Silesian town of Liegnitz (Legnica) and later became the official midwife to the court of the Elector of Brandenburg, delivering more than 6,000 babies in her lifetime.

“Court Midwife” was one of the first textbooks to be written by a woman. It covered all aspects of childbirth, from prenatal care to postnatal recovery, and included detailed instructions for performing deliveries and handling complications. The book was widely read and translated into several languages.

Siegemund was married but did not have any children of her own. She considered midwifery as her “service to God and neighbors.” She depicts herself as a bookish young woman, studying anatomical treatises and illustrations, and relying on this book learning to give her initial competence in difficult deliveries. Only when her own experience had grown significantly did she start recording case notes and published them to instruct other midwives.