Résumé :

he vaginal or gynaecological examination was first mentioned in 17th century French-language obstetrics treatises and was almost systematically accompanied by a discourse denouncing the ignorance or poor practices of midwives. The evolving discourses on this type of medical practice over two centuries also show how the male accoucheur (midwife) disrupted traditional birthing practices conducted between women to the point of becoming an unshakeable authority on the female body during the first half of the 19th century.