![]() He attended Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort of James I and other notable women in society in their confinements. Peter I (1560?–1631) attained the greater distinction and his rise to fame was as dramatic as it was rapid. This impression, however, is almost certainly refuted by his own statement: ‘My Fame begot me envie and secret enemies which mightily increased when my Father added to me the knowledge of “Deliveries and the Cures of Women”.’ There is therefore every justification for concluding that the inventor of the obstetric forceps was either Peter I or Peter II, or possibly both. Further reference to these three Peters will be under the respective numbers I, II and III which some historians have very wisely adopted for the purpose of distinguishing them.įor many years the invention was attributed to Peter III (Dr Peter Chamberlen), who was born in 1601 and died in 1683. To add to the confusion there was a third Peter, a son of Peter the younger, known under the designation ‘Dr Peter Chamberlen’ because he was Doctor of Medicine at Padua (1619), Oxford (1620) and Cambridge (1621) and a Fellow of the College of Physicians (1628) while the father and uncle were of the Barber Surgeons Company (date of admission round about the years 1596–8). The eldest and the youngest son were both named Peter and are referred to by obstetric historians as ‘Peter the older’ and ‘Peter the younger’. ![]() Two other sons were born a year and 3 years, respectively, after the family had settled in England. ![]() The family consisted of William the father (whether he ever practised medicine or was qualified to do so has not been determined), his wife and three children. On 3 July 1569 there disembarked at Southampton a Huguenot refugee family by the name of Chamberlen (Chamberlayne, Chamberlaine and Chamberlin are other spellings). Four important events mark the evolution of the obstetric forceps: (1) the invention, (2) the introduction of the pelvic curve, (3) the introduction of axis-traction devices, (4) the return to a modified ‘straight’ forceps for application to the low, transversely placed head.
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