François Mauriceau (1637 – 17 October 1709) was a French

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

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Life

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he received his training in

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

at the

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu () was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris being the oldest an ...

. He was a leading obstetrician in 17th-century Europe — in 1668 he published, ''Traité des Maladies des Femmes Grosses et Accouchées'', a book that helped establish obstetrics as a science. It was eventually translated into several

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

s. He is also known for development of a classical manoeuvre of assisted breech delivery (Mauriceau-Levret manipulation). He gave a description of tubal pregnancy, and with German

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

Justine Siegemundin 1650–1705), he is credited for introducing the practice of puncturing the

amniotic sac The amniotic sac, also called the bag of waters or the membranes, is the sac in which the embryo and later fetus develops in amniotes. It is a thin but tough transparent pair of biological membrane, membranes that hold a developing embryo (and l ...

to arrest bleeding in placenta praevia. In 1670, English obstetrician Hugh Chamberlen tried to sell the secret of a specialized obstetrical

forceps Forceps (: forceps or considered a plural noun without a singular, often a pair of forceps; the Latin plural ''forcipes'' is no longer recorded in most dictionaries) are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forcep ...

to him. Mauriceau became disgusted that the Chamberlen family kept such an important development a secret, and accused the Chamberlens of common swindling. Mauriceau died in Paris.

Publications

* ''Les Maladies des Femmes Grosses et accouchées. Avec la bonne et véritable Méthode de les bien aider en leurs accouchemens naturels, & les moyens de remédier à tous ceux qui sont contre-nature, & aux indispositions des enfans nouveau-nés''...

Henault, d'Houry, de Ninville, Coignard 1668. *''Observations sur la grossesse et l'accouchement des femmes et sur leurs maladies et celles des enfans nouveau-nez''. Paris, Anisson, 1694.

References

''François Mauriceau''
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauriceau, Francois French obstetricians 1637 births 1709 deaths Physicians from Paris 17th-century French physicians