reportage
How J. Marion Sims becam
Nowadays called the “Father of modern Gynecology”, James Marion Sims is praised by some and despised by others. The core of the polemic? Experimenting surgeries in enslaved black women without anesthesia back in the 19th century.
F
“Fath
rom 1845 until 1849, Sims experimented surgical techniques in enslaved black women to cure vesicovaginal fistulas, without anesthesia. It was during that period that he developed the Sims’ position for vaginal exams and the modern speculum – reasons why he is considered the “Father of modern Gynecology”. Vesicovaginal fistulas had no cure when Sims began experimenting. This problematic complication of prolonged labors, back then, was an abnormal opening between the bladder and the vagina which resulted in an incapacity to control urination. Women with this complication frequently developed a condition considered repulsive and malodorous – what often led to damaged body image, low self-esteem, depression and social isolation. The owners paid clothing and taxes and, during that time, Sims would take temporary ownership of the women until the treatment was successful. He even built a small hospital near his house so we could have easy access to the women. “There was never a time that I could not, at any day, have had a subject for operation”, wrote Sims in his autobiography about one of the advantages of this arrangement, also mentioning this as the most “memorable time” of his life. Sims performed 30 surgeries only in Anarcha, a 17-year-old slave that had a complicated labor and delivery until he was satisfied with his method – search that had begun four years before. Lucy, Anarcha and Betsy are the only three names written in his records, even though at least more 7 enslaved women were subjects of his study. Anesthesia was not used during these procedures. In here, there are different versions for the reason of not using anesthesia and the consent of the women. After starting to operate white women, Sims started to use anesthesia. One theory that explains
16 - VOICES
Sources: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/04/j-marion-sims/558248/ https://www.history.com/news/the-father-of-modern-gynecology-performed-shocking-experiments-on-slaves https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563360/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0027968418302839
