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Agnodice - The First Known Female Midwife

Broads You Should Know
Broads You Should Know
Episode • May 10, 2023 • 15m

Ancient Greece in the 4th Century BCE was pretty tough for women. Women weren't allowed to practice Midwifery legally, and it was inappropriate for male Doctors to see female patients, so women and babies are dying in childbirth in record numbers and Agnodice is SICK OF IT!

She bucks the law, deceives the teachers at med school by dressing as a man, and she becomes a gynecologist. When her practice begins to blossom, her male competition accuse her of committing the worst crime a Doctor at the time could commit: Seducing her female patients.

How does Agnodice get out of this dangerous pickle she found herself in? You'll have to listen to find out!

A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye