"The Creation and Circulation of Evidence and Knowledge in American Medicine through the Lens of the "Husband's Stitch

Physicians in the twentieth century routinely used episiotomy—a cut made during childbirth—to better facilitate labor, using the evidence of their experiences that it was useful. But physicians were not alone in producing evidence regarding episiotomy and its repair. Here I consider how three groups—male physicians, husbands, and laboring women—were involved in creating evidence and circulating knowledge about episiotomies, specifically, the intention of its repair, the so-called "husband's stitch," to sexually benefit men. By doing so I seek to consider the meanings of evidence within medicine, evidence as a basis for challenging the hegemony of medicine by lay women, and how medical knowledge is produced and shared among physicians and non-physicians

Alternative medicine · Childbirth · Episiotomy · Evidence-based medicine · Family medicine · Hegemony · Medical education · Medical knowledge · Obstetrics · Political science · Pregnancy · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Law · Medical History and Innovations · Medical History and Research · Medicine · Psychology