Marie Lachapelle

French midwife and obstetrician

Marie-Louise Lachapelle (1 January 1769 – 4 October 1821) was a French midwife, head of obstetrics at the Hôtel-Dieu, the oldest hospital in Paris.

She published textbooks about women's bodies, gynecology, and obstetrics.She argued against forceps deliveries and wrote Pratique des accouchements, long a standard obstetric text, which promoted natural deliveries.

Lachapelle is generally regarded as the mother of modern obstetrics.