Ludmila Kapalínová, the Midwife of Sobín: From Neighbourly Assistance to the Institutional Midwifery in Prague

Narrating the story of the midwife Ludmila, the book informs the reader about the beginnings of systematic education of midwives at the Prague University. The midwife Ludmila Kapalínová of Sobín (1780–1860), a tenfold mother expecting her eleventh child, left for Prague to study a midwifery course at the university during the winter semester 1824–1825. She was the student of Antonín Jungmann, one of the founders of modern midwifery. Ludmila then performed midwifery for eighteen years. She worked at Tachlovice Manor, in villages falling under the Hostivice and Liboc parishes that are currently situated at the westernmost border of Prague; however, they were quite far from the Prague borders in the 19th century.