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Rösslin
Rösslin's Der Swangern Frawen und Hebamen Rosengarten is the earliest printed illustrated textbook for midwives. This enormously popular work, known simply as the Rosengarten, went through more than forty editions, including German and English translations. For nearly two centuries it served as the authoritative treatise on obstetrics throughout Europe. Rösslin based his work upon much older writings, particularly Gynecology, a text on midwifery, female anatomy, conception, and childbirth compiled by the 2nd century AD Roman author Soranus. Rösslin began by denouncing the ignorance, carelessness, and superstition of midwives. (As city physician at Frankfurt-am-main in 1506, he was municipal supervisor of midwives.) Rösslin discussed podalic version, difficult deliveries, and methods for assisting at delivery, and he included instructions on the care of the child from birth until weaning. The Rosengarten was illustrated with some 20 engravings, including one of a midwife examining a patient, one of the obstetric stool, and 17 figures in the positions of the fetus in utero.
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