Introduction
In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, western European cities began to enact robust regulations concerning the training and licensure of midwives. The city of Amsterdam refined its bureaucratic procedures for midwife licensure earlier than other European locales, and all prospective midwives – including Jews – were required to register in the Collegium Obstetricum from 1668 onward. Midwives had to attend anatomy lectures, report their apprenticeships, and pass a comprehensive examination. Although individual Jewish midwives often went through standard municipal procedures to gain admittance to the profession, Jewish communities had their own internal methods of regulating midwives and ensuring that members of the community received appropriate care from them. The event of birth, and ensuring a positive outcome for both mother and child, was of prime concern to the lay leadership, which was responsible for hiring a midwife or midwives to serve the community. Because of this heightened sensitivity towards midwifery in Amsterdam, communal registers from the Ashkenazic (Hoogduitse) kehillah emphatically state that it is the responsibility of the community to supply enough midwives to serve all birthing women. In the following entries from the community’s pinkas, lay officials appoint additional midwives to address the community’s growing population. These entries divide midwives’ roles by street, with each midwife responsible for a discrete area. The inclusion of this rubric suggests the importance of geography among Jews in eighteenth-century Amsterdam as well as the community’s keen awareness of its location within an urban landscape. In addition to this, birth records kept by one Amsterdam midwife in the earlier half of the century frequently record streets or neighborhoods where births took place, reinforcing this sense of place and the importance of a mental cartography for the midwife as she went about her work. This impulse to record geographical information may have taken cues from the midwife records submitted to the Collegium Obstetricum, to which stadsvroedvrouwen (municipal midwives) and their advanced students were required to supply birth lists at least every three months.
Source 1 Introduction
Gemeente Archief Amsterdam, Archief van de Nederlands Israelitsche Hoofdsynagogue, Inv. 2, folio 551
Because we have found and seen that it is not sufficient to have only one doctor to perform bikur holim before the indigent of our city, two more doctors were appointed by the leaders of the community, may it be preserved by God, to assist him, so that the work should not become too onerous, as mentioned in this register on folio 544.
Furthermore, the women in labor (lit.: sitting on the birthing stool) must be treated with urgency. And waiting is forbidden to save multiple souls in one attempt – in this case both the parturient and the fetus – and it is not possible that two midwives can succeed in attending to all of them [the women in labor] as sometimes there are many. And this case [of midwives] is not similar to that case of physicians, who can treat patients rapidly, which is not the case of midwives who sometimes must wait with one parturient for a long duration. Therefore, we have appointed two additional midwives, who are noted by their names:
Serkhe, wife of Leib Wittsenhausen [old] / Bela, the widow of Eli Kalker [old] // Judith, the widow of the son of Jacob Aveh [new] / Haykhe, the wife of Joel Frank [new]
And their [the new midwives’] salary will be a full salary in every way, just as the two extant midwives. Additionally, a list was given to each one so that they should know which streets they are responsible for (lit.: which paths they are obligated to go on). This same list can also be found in each and every synagogue, to inform anyone who requires the aforementioned midwives. Moreover, a second condition was added that if there should be more than one woman in labor [at a time] on the streets belonging to these midwives, each one of the midwives must help her colleague if she is free at that time, without any complaint in the world. [This is] a decree which shall not be transgressed (Psalms 148:6).
And the salary of the two new midwives will commence from Rosh Hodesh Kislev of this year, and they will perform their tasks faithfully, as they obligate themselves to do with their signatures below.
Today, Thursday 14 Tevet 5523 [December 30, 1762]
Districts of the Above Midwives
| Haykhe midwife new | Judith midwife new | Bela midwife | Serkhe midwife |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uilenburger 2 Streets | Flembourg | From the new Mark | Marken |
| Alte Shantz | Stromark | Sant street | Markenstan (?) |
| Uilenburger alley | Greenmark by the Portuguese (meat) hall | Moder Mahlen alley | Small Houttuinen |
| Big and Small Houttuinen to Shlis | Flembourger alley | Farbrei Street and graft | Vinkenbuurt |
| Breite Street | Shul street | Neue Street | |
| From the Shlis to the Portuguese shul | Tarf graft and alley (?) | Wesper Street | |
| Kerk Street |
Signature of Serkhe (pen mark)
Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire, Strasbourg, m.s. 4.048, folio 135v]
5489
Rosh Hodesh Iyyar, a daughter was delivered to the Bimitel [Pimentel] silversmith.1
Today, Shabbat Kodesh, 15 Iyyar, a son was delivered to the Spaniard in the room of the wig maker.
Sunday, 16 Iyyar, a daughter was delivered to Melekh Papegaaij Zelig.
Monday, 22 Iyyar, a daughter was delivered to Solomon Bloye [in] Vinkenbuurt.
Today, Shabbat Kodesh, the second day of Shavuot, a son was delivered to Zalman Stodel.
Friday, 13 Sivan, a daughter was delivered to Meir in Pintusgang.2
Shabbat Kodesh, 7 Sivan, a daughter was delivered to Leah, daughter of Shammai Kreuer.
Tuesday, 8 Tamuz, a daughter was delivered to Jasje Erges [?].
Shabbat Kodesh, a daughter was delivered to someone in Marken.3
Shabbat Kodesh, 12 Tamuz, a daughter was delivered to Yitle in the Zantgasse.4
Tuesday, 15 Tamuz, a daughter was delivered to Shammai Knip.
A daughter was delivered to Zipje in the Houttuinen.
Tuesday, 22 Tamuz, a son was delivered to Yidle the son-in-law of Sagje.
Friday, 25 Tamuz, a son was delivered to the vorreiter.5
Tuesday, erev Rosh Hodesh Menahem [Av], a son was delivered to Aharon, son of Leizer Wenig.
Monday, 13 Av, a daughter was delivered to Moshe Tantiro.
Thursday, 17 Av, a daughter was delivered to Yoheved, her daughter Miriam.
Sunday, 19 Av, a daughter was delivered to Avraham Pes.
Tuesday, 28 Av, a daughter was delivered to Eli Nikolsburg.
Today, Shabbat Kodesh, 2 Elul 5489 to the small counting, a daughter was delivered to R’ Hirz, son of parnas u-manhig (lay leader) Yidle Levi, of blessed memory.
Rosh Hodesh Adar, a daughter was delivered to the slaughterer who lives by Shmuel Herenburg.
Footnotes
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The word אנוסה (anusah) is written above this entry, which could mean that this was a Marrano woman, or that she was raped. This remains unclear. ↩
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This street is also listed as Pinto’sgang or Pintjesgang. ↩
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Marken is an area in Amsterdam, a former island. ↩
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Zandstraat-gang. ↩
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This was the person who served as the head of funeral processions. ↩