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Catharina (Vrouw) Schrader Cramer (1656- 1746) was an accomplished Dutch midwife, known for her extensive journal of birthing accounts in the Early Modern Era. ==Early life== Born in Bentheim, Germany, Catharina Schrader moved to Leiden, The Netherlands when she was about 14 years old. She had a big family; her father, Friedrich Schrader, her mother, Gertrud Nibberich, and records estimate about four siblings. 〔Marland, ''Mother and Child Were Saved: The Memoirs (1693-1740) of the Frisian Midwife Catharina Schrader'', 6〕 ==Marriages== Married to Ernst Wilhelm Cramer from 1683-1691. While they traveled often, they managed to build a family of six children. It wasn’t long after their last child was born that Ernst Wilhelm Cramer died, leaving Catharina a widow, with a handful of children to raise. 〔Marland, ''Mother and Child Were Saved: The Memoirs (1693-1740) of the Frisian Midwife Catharina Schrader'', 6〕 In 1713, Catharina remarried to Thomas Higt. Their marriage was quite ordinary, and lasted until Thomas Higt died in 1720, once again, rendering Catharina a widow. 〔Marland, ''Mother and Child Were Saved: The Memoirs (1693-1740) of the Frisian Midwife Catharina Schrader'', 7〕 ==Widows in the early modern period== Though Catharina struggled financially during her widowhood; women in this time period were actually more empowered when widowed. Because the woman is under her husband’s power, when he dies, that power is passed to his wife. A widow inherits the family money and becomes the head of the household. Depending on what the husband’s occupation was, it gets passed to his wife as well. If a man was a business-owner, his widow now rules that business. Becoming a widow also empowers a woman because according to church and state, she has officially done her duty as a woman- marrying and possibly birthing children. So when a woman’s husband dies, she has done all that she could have as a woman, in their eyes. Catharina chose to take up midwifery when her first husband died. She had more freedom to travel and practice now that she was a widow. She slowed down her practice after her second marriage, but proceeded to pick back up when she became a widow once again, after her second husband died. ==Midwifery== In the Early Modern Era, midwifery was solely a woman’s job. Midwifery is a type of childbirth where an experienced and trained woman comes to another’s home, to help deliver her baby. A mother would choose this route of childbirth because she would feel completely comfortable and safe in the environment of her own home, and this does not involve any medication. Middle-class women in this time period typically worked as textile workers to save money for their marriage dowry, but to become a midwife, was a very respected and prestige position for a woman. Midwives were paid good salaries, and received tips from wealthy families whom they serviced. Young girls first had to apprentice for a few years with an experienced midwife and learn the ways, and only then could they become independent midwives. Though not as common now, midwives are still birthing children to this day. ==Catharina Schrader as a midwife== It was after the death of her first husband, Ernst Wilhelm Cramer, that Catharina Schrader started to practice midwifery. With six children, she was in need of a way to financially support her family.〔Eccles, 479〕 After getting remarried to Thomas Higt however, Catharina slowed down her practice. Articles suggest that this could be because her family was more financially stable after her marriage, but she still continued to do it here and there though. After the death of her second husband, she picked back up, even though at this point, she was a bit older. 〔Marland, ''Mother and Child Were Saved: The Memoirs (1693-1740) of the Frisian Midwife Catharina Schrader'', 7〕 Catharina was a very well experienced midwife. She had about 3000 cases of childbirth entries in her journals.〔Eccles, 479〕 She traveled around to help assist difficult deliveries; Dokkum was a popular place where she visited often. Catharina had close friends in that area, who were part of the ministry; she would go there to assist their personal deliveries, like the wife of a preacher, and other townspeople with difficult deliveries. 〔Marland, ''Mother and Child Were Saved: The Memoirs (1693-1740) of the Frisian Midwife Catharina Schrader'',13〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Catharina Cramer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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