Chapter 19: What Did You Guys Do?

Midwife.

It's embarrassing to admit, but I had never once seen a childbirth assisted by a midwife.

Being a doctor, I was always at the hospital, so in a way, it was only natural.

Anyway, with a pounding heart, I followed the two of them.

"What brings you here...?"

The butler turned around with a displeased look, but...

"Ah, young master."

Alfred was behind me.

Hahahaha.

Like a fox riding on a tiger's back.

Well, there's a saying like that, right?

"Yes. I heard there's a saying in Joseon called 'learning from others' mistakes.'"

"Pardon?"

"It means you can learn lessons even from the stones of other mountains. Even watching the inadequate medical practices of a midwife, there's something to learn, or so they say."

"Ah... That's a good saying. Indeed, you're Noble Kim."

Maybe because he's smart, he speaks well too.

To immediately apply the concept of learning from others' mistakes.

Impressed by his words, the butler nodded, while the midwife walking ahead turned around with a look that said, "What kind of lunatics are these?"

I cleared my throat and looked outside, but it seemed pointless.

To anyone looking, it was clear that the Joseon person here was me.

'Damn it. Why did you have to bring up inadequate medical practices here?'

These lunatics.

Who said England was a country of gentlemen?

These ignorant Anglo-Saxon bastards.

No manners at all.

Squeak.

I guess it's a relief.

The midwives had such a strong sense of professionalism that instead of picking a fight, they headed straight to the maid's room.

I'm not sure if calling them maids is correct, but I had missed the chance to ask long ago, so I just went with it.

"Isla. I've brought them."

The butler opened the door and called the maid's name.

"O... ."

It looked like the baby was about to come any moment.

It's a bit odd for someone who was a surgery professor to use the word "looked," but...

I really knew nothing about obstetrics.

It couldn't be helped.

This was a completely different field.

"Hmm... Boiled water?"

"Ah, yes. Here it is. But why......."

"To wash my hands."

"Why?"

"I don't know. That's how I was taught."

While I was thinking that, surprisingly...

Damn, really surprisingly, the midwife asked for boiled water first.

And then, even more surprisingly, she washed her hands.

She didn't seem to know why, but she did it anyway.

'Wow・・・・・・ this...... Just this alone would make a huge difference in outcomes.'

But after that, there wasn't much difference.

Well, it couldn't be helped.

Obstetrics hadn't advanced much yet, after all.

Would they do prenatal checkups, or would they perform a C-section?

'I've heard they do C-sections.....?

Correction.

They do, but usually, the mother dies in such cases.

If they want to save the baby, they cut at that point, I heard.

The problem is that their anatomical knowledge is a mess, and surgical techniques aren't well-established yet, so many babies end up with scars, I've heard.

"Ugh."

"What."

"No, nothing."

These guys probably can't even imagine this vividly, but...

Since I'm so knowledgeable, it wasn't imagination but recollection.

Thankfully, my mental strength is strong, or I would've vomited, really.

Performing a C-section vertically?

These lunatics.

So many mothers died because of that.

They didn't even wash their hands, so they all just died.

'Sigh'

Even thinking about it now, it's truly absurd.

Who would've thought such a barbaric era existed just before modern times?

The saying that it's darkest before dawn isn't just a literary metaphor but a description of history, I realized anew.

Under the guise of saving lives, they were committing slaughter.

This is something you can't do to patients, but it's also heartbreaking for doctors.

Surely, those who call themselves doctors wouldn't want to kill people.

"Aaaah!"

Soon, screams began to echo.

It wasn't because the midwife and her team did something terrible.

As it turned out, the gentleman was just escorting the midwife, and the one handling the delivery was a single midwife who seemed very experienced.

"Here, grab this and push! I can see the head, just a little more!"

"Aaaah!"

Isla.

The woman I met for the first time today was screaming in agony.

I knew childbirth was incredibly painful, but...

Even though I've done rounds during training...

In the 21st century, they use inducing agents or slightly widen the entrance, so it was probably better than this.

Or maybe the mothers I saw weren't first-time mothers.

'Wow... Mom... I'll really be filial to you.'

It seemed like it had to hurt.

Humans have big heads, don't they?

Especially babies, whose head circumference is wider than their shoulders, so pushing that out had to hurt.

In my previous life as an orphan, I never had the chance to be filial to my mother, but I thought I should be good to my current mother.

At the same time, I observed the midwife's actions.

She skillfully patted the baby's bottom and wiped it with the pre-boiled water.

"Here, you did well."

Then, she wiped the patient with a cloth soaked in clean water.

Every move was thoughtful, and nothing was unhygienic.

Of course, even with that, they couldn't handle unexpected situations caused by the baby's large head.

But at least they didn't cause any artificial harm.

It didn't seem like she did anything special here.

To move that skillfully, she must have repeated the same task hundreds of times.

As someone who trained in surgery more than anyone, I understood.

'The outcomes can't be the same.'

Right.

There's no way mothers giving birth here and those in hospitals die at the same rate.

Because those hospitals are actively causing harm.

Those bastards.

Saying they don't know what they're doing is no excuse.

'If I just expose this...... wouldn't these bastards change their minds?'

I first looked at Joseph and Alfred beside me.

Wondering if they felt anything.

They happened to look back at me, so a conversation started.

"Definitely...."

"It's different."

Oh?

Did the knowledge I've been subtly sharing help?

Huh? Was that it?

With hope, I asked what was different.

"It's slow."

"Slow enough to make you yawn."

The answer I got was absurd.

Slow?

Did they eat the Devil's Fruit or something?

"Why wash hands? That's where all the time goes. If the head was coming out...... you should've helped quickly."

"Exactly. There's so much good stuff on these hands. But then again, a midwife's hands can't be the same as ours."

No way.

Have I read too many comics?

How can they not be the same?

They are.

They're the same people.

You should wash too.

'This way... it won't work.'

This era really isn't ready.

It feels somewhat scientific but overall unscientific.

Like they're just pretending?

Well, modern medicine only started focusing more on evidence than expert authority after the 1990s.

Now, they must treat the words of masters or predecessors as gospel.

To overturn that, evidence is needed.

'Let's look at their statistics. There must be a difference.'

There has to be.

Hehe.

With a sly smile, I waited for the work to finish.

Joseph and Alfred, having lost interest in me, were sharing their own thoughts on what they had just seen.

"Definitely learning from others' mistakes."

"Yeah. I should never wash my hands. That way, I can hurry more?"

"Right. Haha. The Joseon people are wise."

I wanted to cover my ears from all this infuriating talk.

But openly covering your ears is disrespectful not just in 19th-century England but anywhere.

Damn it.

So I endured and listened.

Then, seeing the midwife come out, I quickly ran over.

"Huh?"

The midwife was so startled she stepped back.

....

Black hair and a yellow face—must be the first time she's seen that.

Outside, it might cause trouble, but this was the mansion.

Joseph didn't need to step in; the butler did.

"He's a noble from Joseon."

"Joseon...?"

"A jewel-like country in the East, they say. A land of wise people."

"Ah... Well, yes. But......?"

"He's studying at the medical college here. Trying to integrate Joseon's medicine with ours."

It was all a lie.

But I didn't feel guilty.

I'm doing this for a good cause.

Lying to save lives.

So I looked at the midwife with a straight face, and she finally bowed to me.

In an era where the word "noble" still held power, it was only natural.

"Yes, my apologies. What brings you here......."

"I just have a few questions, so I followed. Do you often visit homes to deliver babies like this?"

At my question, the midwife's eyes showed a hint of wariness.

Wondering why, the answer came from behind.

"Hmph. Just kick him out."

"Go for it, average guy!"

Those lunatics were looking at the midwife with utter disdain.

Bastards....

You're so much worse than her.......

Maybe it's because of guys like this that even in the 21st century, there's distrust in modern medicine.

Surely, books from this era would give more credit to traditional medicine.

Anyway, I added.

Quickly.

"I'm not asking with bad intentions. I'm genuinely curious."

"Hmm

...

"Ah."

Do you also take them at the hospital?

I go once or twice a week. There are many mansions outside the city too. Mostly, we deliver at the hospital."

In those wards with dozens of people?

Could they deliver babies as cleanly there?

Absolutely not.

That's not a place where that's possible.

I don't even know where they boil water there.

"By any chance... is there a difference in the frequency of puerperal fever between home births and hospital births?"

"Hmm."

Puerperal fever.

Ah, it doesn't roll off the tongue.

But being a genius, I managed to remember and even use the term.

The midwife, surprised by my question, tilted her head for a moment before answering.

"Probably・・・・・・ there is."

The answer was a bit vague.

"Probably?"

"

I think so."

I haven't compared them directly. But there must be a difference. When delivering at mansions... mothers rarely die compared to hospital births.

"What do you think is the reason?"

She hadn't organized it, but she seemed to intuitively recognize the difference.

So I dug deeper.

Sometimes intuition is more accurate.

But the answer I got was despairing.

"The professors say...... it's the air."

"Pardon?"

"The air. Isn't that it? There's no other difference."

"Ah...."

The air....

Right, yes, I see. Sure, that must be it.