Eucharius Rösslin

While examining and supervising the city's midwives, he found their practice of midwifery to be careless and substandard, leading to high rates of infant mortality.

Thereby Der Rosengarten gave for the first time printed illustrations of the birthing chair, the lying-in chamber, and the positions of the fetus in utero.

[1] Alongside his direct observation of midwifery at Worms, Rösslin incorporated information gleaned from writers of antiquity such as Muscio and Soranus of Ephesus.

In the introductory prologue to the text, written in verse, Rosslin emphasizes the importance of the role of men in reproduction and blames midwives who "through neglect and oversight... destroy children far and wide."

Also the midwife must instruct and comfort the party, not only refreshing her with good meate and drinke, but also with sweet words, giving her hope of a good speedie deliverance, encouraging and enstomacking her to patience and tolerance, bidding her to hold in her breath as much as she may, also stroking gently with her hands her belly about the Navell, for that helpeth to depress the birth downeward.