Record of Obstetrical Cases in Rural Virginia and Ohio by B.G. Warwick

This collection consists of 1 folder containing the notebook kept by Dr. Warwick detailing his obstetrics practice in Augusta County, Virginia (1838-1856) and Scioto County, Ohio (1857-1877). Warwick’s notebook begins with a short preface in which the author describes his intentions of documenting his obstetrical cases for his own curiosity and the educational benefit of himself and others. The work contains records of approximately 290 deliveries that he performed over his career. His patients included white and black women, as well as a few apparently single women that Warwick attended at the local poorhouse. His notes describe the condition of the mother, the position and presentation of the fetus, any complications during the birth, and the outcome. Warwick’s writings recount the many dangers of childbirth in rural America during the mid-nineteenth century, including stillbirths, hemorrhage, and the potential loss of mother and child. One entry describes an unsuccessful “Ceasarian Operation” attempted in 1856 by Dr. Vincent T. Churchman at which Warwick was present; neither mother nor child survived. Included among the entries are the births of Warwick’s own children.