Tomadas em bom conceito: atuação de parteiras imigrantes a partir do processo-crime de Anna Frank (Santa Maria Da Boca Do Monte, século XX)

Abstract

The work in question explores the role of midwives, with a particular focus on German midwives in Santa Maria da Boca do Monte, Rio Grande do Sul. The study uses a specific criminal case from 1929 involving Anna Frank, a German midwife, and Guilherme Scheidt, a German doctor accused of professional incompetence. The overall objective of the study is to understand how these German midwives operated in a small town in Rio Grande do Sul in the first decades of the 20th century. To this end, the study sets several specific objectives, which include identifying the professional performance of immigrant midwives, as well as elements of competitiveness and solidarity. It is also relevant to examine the relationship between midwives and doctors, in a context of increasing medicalization of childbirth in cities like Santa Maria and the capital Porto Alegre. The work is contextualized in a scenario of social and professional transformations, with pressures from the press and the health system to medicalize the midwives' craft. Beyond the case of Anna Frank, the study uses bibliographies to understand how midwives adapted and resisted changes in their professions. The work also makes an effort to analyze how academic expertise began to overshadow traditional wisdom, especially with the creation of formal courses for midwives