Nihell, Elizabeth (1723–after 1772)

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Nihell, Elizabeth (1723–after 1772)

English midwife. Born 1723 in London, England; died after 1772; m. Edward Nihell (surgeon); children: at least 1.

Studied at Hôtel Dieu in Paris (late 1740s), with the duke of Orleans's help; began working as a midwife in London (early 1750s); criticized Dr. William Smellie, a midwife trainer, which sparked the protest of Smellie's former student, Tobias Smollet; wrote A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery (1760), which criticized the higher pay rates for male midwives and the proclivity of male midwives to overuse instruments during childbirth (many at the time assumed her husband had written the book).