The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, Guest post by Brigitte Barnard

In the glamorous, glittering and dangerous court of king Henry VIII and his queen Katherine of Aragon, the desperate desire for a healthy male heir overshadows all. Plagued by a series of miscarriages the queen is left grappling with the weight of her singular duty to provide a son for the Crown. Amidst this turmoil the queen turns to Sarah Menendez, the most highly skilled midwife in England. Sarah, exiled from her homeland and concealing her true identity must serve the queen and battle her deepest fears. As Sarah strives to save the queen from the perils of childbirth, the specter of her own past threatens to unravel the carefully crafted identity Sarah has created for herself and her young daughter.

In a world where power, politics and religion collide, Sarah finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and deadly danger. The fate of the queen’s unborn child, the survival of the midwife and her daughter, and the stability of the kingdom hang in the balance. Sarah Menendez must employ all of her skills, cunning and courage to protect those she holds dear as well as the life of the queen and her unborn child.

The Tudor Queens’ Midwife is a gripping tale of secrecy, sacrifice and religious turmoil amongst the most opulent court the world has ever seen.

The Midwife and her duties

When labor began the midwives would be summoned. These women would appear day or night ready to aid the queen. Besides their profound knowledge they would be equipped with a bag of supplies which could include herbs for speeding up labor, staunching bleeding, drying up the navel cord, easing labor pains and oils which were applied to the perineum, to mitigate tearing during birth. Midwives could manipulate the child’s position within the womb to turn a poorly positioned baby, apply salves to ease straining muscles, and guide mothers through exhaustion. Sometimes a birthing stool would be amongst their supplies but not necessarily.

There is a common misconception that midwives employed bizarre and possibly dangerous methods in their craft. Historical writing about midwives has sometimes been sensationally misguided. This is a result of reading only select instances that are truly unique and strange, but is not a factual representation of midwifery in the Tudor– or any age.

Midwives practiced in the 16th century in many ways exactly as modern homebirth midwives practice today. They were highly competent and well respected women who were either married or widowed and they were not dirty, incompetent, superstitious fools raving about evil spirits in the birthing chamber. Superstitions were part of the culture in the late medieval era, but this was not a trait reserved for birthing attendants. If anything, midwives were less superstitious and more down-to-earth than most of their peers due to their close connection to the everyday miracle of childbirth.

The denigration of midwives is likely due to the genesis of obstetrics and the introduction of male doctors in a previously female only sphere beginning in the late 17th century.

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Meet Brigitte Barnard

Brigitte Barnard is an amateur historian of Renaissance English history and an author of the trilogy The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, of which the first book in the series is available. She is currently writing a non-fiction book about Tudor midwifery for Pen and Sword publishing house.

Brigitte is a former homebirth midwife, and she lives at home with her husband and four children. She also raises Cavalier King Charles spaniels.