1656–1672 At 20 years old, Justine suffered from a
prolapsed uterus which went misdiagnosed. This painful experience motivated her to become educated about obstetrics, In 1689, Siegemund travelled from
The Hague to Frankfurt on Oder, and submitted her draft manual to the Frankfurt on Oder medical faculty, which approved her medical documentation. She had incorporated embryological and anatomical engravings from
Regnier de Graaf and
Govard Bidloo, which enhanced its practical utility. From April to June 1689, she protected her intellectual property stake in the volume through gaining printing privileges from the Electors of
Brandenburg and
Saxony, as well as the
Holy Roman Emperor. Based on careful notes that she had made during her deliveries, she published an authoritative obstetrical text titled
The Court Midwife (German:
Die Kgl. Preußische und Chur-Brandenburgische Hof-Wehemutter) in 1690. On 28 March 1690 the
Alma Mater Viadrina certified her book.
The Court Midwife was systematic and evidence-based in its presentation of possible childbirth complications, including problems like poor presentations,
umbilical cord problems, and
placenta previa and their management. In the textbook, Siegemund presented a solution to the delivery of a
shoulder presentation, in those days an often catastrophic situation leading to the death of the baby and potentially the mother. She worked out a two-handed intervention to rotate the baby in the uterus, securing one extremity by a sling. She also is credited (along with
François Mauriceau) of finding a method to deal with a hemorrhaging placenta previa by puncturing the
amniotic sac. After Siegemund's death,
The Court Midwife went through numerous republications, including in Berlin (1708) and Leipzig (1715 and 1724), with modifications that included corroborative male gynecological citations. Republications in 1723, 1741, 1752 and 1756 also included accounts of the Kerger and Petermann cases. == Works ==