[A Comparative Analysis of Shushi-Sanbaron and the Original German Textbook Lehrbuch der Hebammenkunst].

Abstract

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of Shushi-Sanbaron (Japanese characters) and the original book, Lehrbuch der Hebammenkunst. After the legal reorganisation of the medical professions in Germany in the mid nineteenth century, the textbook Lehrbuch der Hebammenkunst was published for certified midwives. This book has two distinct characteristics; it was written from the physician's standpoint regarding the importance of the professional hierarchy of obstetricians and midwives, and it also served as a practical educator for midwives. Lehrbuch der Hebammenkunst was translated into Japanese for use as a textbook after the introduction of systematised education for certified midwives by the Tokyo-fu Hospital. It was published between 1877 and 1878 under title Shushi-Sanbaron. We clarify that Shushi-Sanbaron was not a literal translation of the original book, but was largely rewritten by two physicians in order to modify it to the Japanese situation after the introduction of modern medicine. Japanese physicians made serious modifications of the chapters that dealt with deviations from the regular course of birth and abnormal conditions of postpartum women and new-born babies, and they added theoretical explanations about obstetrics. As a result, Shushi-Sanbaron made two contradicting demands to midwives. On the one hand, midwives were urged to attain high-level theoretical knowledge and skill in obstetrics in order to--independently--help pregnant women and new-born babies in a crisis. On the other hand, as lower participants in the medical hierarchy, they were told to assume a dependent and uncritical attitude towards physicians.