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Controversy

Modern historical analysis from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has come to question William Smellie’s practice of obstetrics and the methods by which he performed his research. Through modern analysis, historians have come to believe that William Smellie and his collaborator and later competitor William Hunter were the cause of several dozen murders of pregnant women in order to gain access to corpses for anatomical dissection and physiological experimentation. Due to the inadequate match between supply and demand of corpses, scientists had to find other means, often requiring illegal methods, to obtain access. The process was named “burking” after the anatomist William Burke who performed or commissioned several dozen murders in the name of scientific experimentation. [Brittanica] Often times, grave robbing was also not a sufficient method by which obstetricians could access the specific type of tissue required for testing and dissection. There are varied hypothesis on what was the primary motivation behind the supposed mass killings. Historians hypothesize that one of the driving forces was the rivalry between William Smellie and William Hunter and their desire to be the leading researcher and physician on the field of obstetrics. Both physicians worked to understand the mechanisms of cesarean sections and reviving unborn fetuses after the pregnant woman has died. William Smellie is often hailed as the “father of British midwifery” by many historians. Although he has been viewed as a major figure in propelling the field of obstetrics, he also received much back-lash against his work during his time. In 1755, there was much fervor and questioning of Smellie’s access to these corpses. Many of the accusations came from competitors, and fearing trial and even execution, Smellie stopped his work for several years in an effort to quench the suspicion that had been raised. [The Guardian]

Life

When traveling to Scotland, Smellie was introduced to the concept of using forceps as a means to aid in delivery. He publicized the use of these instruments although promoted natural birth as the best method of delivery due to its less invasive nature. He was the first observer and recorder of the natural birthing process and detailed the method by which the head of the child exited the female pelvis. Smellie also challenged the commonly accepted concept of saving the mother over the child in times of complication. [Science Museum] Through the introduction of forceps in the field of obstetrics, more delicate maneuvers could be performed and therefore obstetricians were able to equally weigh the life of the mother and child when complications did arise and were more often able to resolve the problem and save both. He was the first recorded figure to be able to resuscitate an infant after lung collapse and describe in detail uterine dystocia. Aside from his purely clinical work, Smellie was also a large figure in the educational aspect of medicine. He was known to have taught “280 courses to up to 900 pupils”. William Hunter was a key student of his who later gained great report in the field of obstetrics. Unlike William Hunter, William Smellie was able to gain prestige and success without connections to highly reputable individuals in society. Through his humble background, Smellie was able to gain great acclaim through his deep interest in the field of obstetrics and is now seen as a pioneer in not only OBGYN but also an innovator of medical tools and reference literature. [NIH]

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528415/?page=2

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/williamsmellie

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/07/british-obstetrics-founders-murders-claim

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Smellie-Scottish-physician