The Mothers of Gynaecology
Seventeen-year-old Anarcha has just had a baby, but there’s a problem. She is in great pain and her doctor believes nothing can be done about it - at least at first.
In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads
connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins.
This is the story of a 17 year old enslaved girl - Anarcha - and the other enslaved women who gave birth to the field of gynaecology. The year is 1845 and Anarcha has just had a baby. But there’s a problem. She is in great pain and her doctor, J Marion Sims, believes nothing can be done about it - at least at first.
She has developed a vesico-vaginal fistula, a hole between her bladder and her vagina. This leaves her incontinent and in the doctor’s words: “aside from death, this was about the worst accident that could have happened to the poor young girl”. In search of a cure Anarcha would be experimented on 30 times. Julia and Adam hear from Dr Deirdre Cooper Owens, a professor at the University of Connecticut and the author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynaecology.
Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw
Producers: Simona Rata and Rufaro Faith Mazarura
Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
An Audio Always production for ±«Óătv Radio 4.
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Broadcast
- Sun 18 Aug 2024 23:00±«Óătv Radio 4
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Podcast
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The Human Subject
Investigating the threads connecting modern-day medicine to its often brutal origins.
