François Mauriceau

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François Mauriceau

1637-1709

French surgeon who contributed to the practice of obstetrics, the branch of medicine concerned with the care of pregnant women. He was the first to use the term pudendal, which refers to the external genitals of a woman, and the term fossa navicularis, which is a deep depression of the skin in the vagina. Mauriceau described a number of conditions during pregnancy and birthing, such as tubal pregnancy.