The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Child Bed
Dr. Frederick Hollick wrote The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Child Bed in 1840 as an aid for women themselves: "Being a familiar and practical treatise, more especially intended for the instruction of females themselves, but adapted also for popular use among students and practitioners of medicine."
While many images of women's bodies from this time include images that seem downright pornographic, this text contains illustration that is at some times so conservative as to obstruct the reader's view of the body parts being discussed. Take for an instance plate XXXIX which is supposed to show, "The manner of supporting the perineum, during the passage of the head." However, the woman's legs and abdomen are so heavily draped that it is seems a baby's head has simply appeared in the midwife's hand from amidst a pile of curtains. This constructed modesty almost prevents the instructive aspect of this image.