Chamberlen, Hugh

Chamberlen, Hugh

(born 1630, London, Eng.—died c. 1720, London) British midwife. He was grandnephew of Peter Chamberlen the Elder (1560–1631), who invented the obstetrical forceps. A midwife to Catherine, queen of Charles II of England, Hugh Chamberlen used his position to exploit his use of the forceps, previously a family secret, and referred to them in the preface to his translation of a French treatise on midwifery, a standard in obstetrics for 75 years. Near the end of his life, he sold his secret to a Dutch surgeon.