Mary Eaves

Mary Ann Eaves (c. 1805/6 – 1875) was an English midwife. She is known for the register she kept of the 5029 births she attended throughout her 28-year career, which constitutes a primary source for the study of nineteenth-century midwifery.

Early life Mary was born Mary Willis in Coventry. On 16 July 1825, she married a silk weaver, Charles Eaves. Silk weaving was a common cottage industry in Coventry at the time, and Mary's occupation is also listed as a silk weaver on later censuses. Mary and Charles had eight children before 1851. Despite keeping a register, she seems not to have been able to write herself.

In 1841, the family was living at Spon End, Radford, Coventry, next door to a midwife called Elizabeth Roberts.

Midwifery career By 1849, Mary had been "sworn" as a midwife, although the nature of her swearing is uncertain, whether it was linked to an ecclesiastical, charitable, or guild-type organisation. From then on, she regularly attended more than 200 births a year, with a peak of 286 in 1857, equating to more than five a week, and there are some instances of her attending four or more births in a single day. The majority of her cases were within half a mile of her home.

She operated on behalf of the Poor Law Union and Coventry's two lying-in charities, and attended births in the workhouse. There is only one record of a medical man being summoned to assist.