Maternidade Dr. João Moreira, the first women's hospital in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza, was founded in March 1915. It was created with the goal of reducing infant mortality during childbirth and made the female body an object of medical practice in the city. Its wards were used not just by the city's womenfolk, but also for midwife training courses. In this study, we analyze the dynamics inside the institution: its spatial organization, its healing and disciplinary methods, its relationship with its patients, its medical staff, etc. Statistical records and clinical case studies produced by doctors were important sources of research in this, one of the first initiatives in the development of obstetrics in the state of Ceará.
childbirth; hospital; obstetrics; Fortaleza; midwives