Dr. James Marion Sims, hailed today as 'the father of gynaecology,' found his big break in developing the cesarean section as a cure to vesico-vaginal fistulas (VVF) through his experimentation on enslaved pregnant women from 1845-1849, operations that were performed without the use of anesthesia. Constituting his prominence in the medical scene, VVF had been an ailment plaguing women for centuries, yet no doctors had yet to "develop a method of surgery which would consistently yield positive results," as "the medical specialty of gynaecology did not exist...the practice of examining the female organs was considered repugnant by doctors who were almost all males" (Ojanuga 1).
Dr. Sims, previously believing VVFs to be incurable, got the inspiration for his research through a woman's pelvic injury sustained in a horseback riding incident; this on-scene treatment, resulting in examination of the woman on her elbows and knees, provided a vaginal vantage point from which Dr. Sims believed he could discover the cure for VVF. He went on to perform his experimental procedures on enslaved women before presenting them to the public; these woman were brought in by their enslavers as they were considered "useless as human chattel since they could neither work in fields nor houses in their condition (Ojanuga 2). Confident in his chances of success, he invites a group of doctors to oversee his first operation on an enslaved woman named Lucy. With no anesthesia and put on display, "Lucy endured excruciating pain while positioned on her hands and knees. She must have felt extreme humiliation as twelve doctors observed the operation. Unfortunately, the operation failed..." (Ojanuga 2). Through the 'fathers' of medicine like Sims, the lack of autonomy, disregard of pain, and implied expendability of the lives of Black women and their babies was not only normalized in its practice of medicine on pregnant Black women; it was built into its very foundation. Though not a price they had to pay themselves, Black lives were a cost that enslavers and doctors were willing to pay for their personal gain, "It is little wonder that enslaved woman are at grave risk of suffering prenatal conditions. Prenatal risk was the price that slave owners, and by extension the doctors...were willing to pay to ensure that black women continued to birth slaves with great frequency" (Ojanuga 4). As medicine has evolved, new methods of malpractice in the treatment of Black mothers have evolved alongside it.
Dr. Sims immoral practices were not only accepted; they were revered, "By the time of Dr J Marion Sims's death in 1833, he had established a world-wide reputation as a great surgeon and gynaecologist. Hospitals are named for him and statues of Dr Sims can be seen in New York and South Carolina" (Ojanuga 3). This recognition did not take long to garner, with Sims's co-founding of a women's hospital shortly after. An article, written by the New York Daily Tribune during the hospital's formation in 1856, reveals dominant mindsets which praise Dr. Sims; fail to acknowledge the cost of Black women's safety and lives that funded his innovation; and demonize women for 'being at fault' for suffering such ailments. The article provides, "we are indebted to Dr. J. M. Sims...who has recently made some important medical discoveries...that these discoveries are of great value, is proved by the recognition awarded..." ("The Woman's Hospital"). Solidifying Sims as a benevolent innovator, the article turns its attentions to the prospective patients of this hospital, "By a thousand violations of natural laws and the most flagrant disregard of the requirements of prudence, the women of this country have brought themselves into a condition of health alike deplorable and disgraceful. What with tight lacing, thin shoes, bare necks, late hours, unventilated rooms, and artifical exitants, the sex in our large cities present, a lamentable array of sick" ("The Woman's Hospital"). Beyond blaming women for their ailments in the advertisement of a Sims's women's hospital, it goes on to charge them with the responsibility of relieving themselves from health issues through abandoning vanity. Despite advertising a health care facility for women and the brilliance and innovation of its doctors (of which Dr. Sims was the head of surgery), the article provides that the cure for women's illness lies in their own hands, "There may yet be in store for society a millenial day when women will prefer health to fashion and nature to meretricious ornament; but until then thousands must die victims to the fashionable follies of the age" ("The Woman's Hospital"). With the promotion and access to innovative medical techniques, built on the suffering and lives of Black women, failing to mention their contribution; failing to allow them treatment at the hospital once the procedure was developed to be dependably effective; and placing blame and criticism on White women, who were inarguably, exceedingly held in higher regard than Black women, the failures of women's healthcare and the danger to Black mothers today is without mystery.
Works Cited
Ojanuga, Durrenda. "The Medical Ethics of the 'Father of Gynaecology', Dr. J. Marion Sims." Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 19, no. 1, 1993, pp. 28-31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27717250. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
"THE WOMAN'S HOSPITAL." New - York Daily Tribune (1842-1866), Feb 25, 1856, pp. 4. ProQuest, http://ulib.iupui.edu/cgi-bin/proxy.pl?url=http://search.proquest.com/h….