Until the early 1900s, physicians practiced without degrees or regulations. Before science knew about germs, doctors moved between anatomy labs, medical wards, and operating rooms without washing their hands. As a result, women delivered by doctors were more likely to die of infection than those tended by midwives, who remained by each mother’s bedside. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth a century ago in the novel Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
