The introduction of the obstetrical forceps provided huge advances in the medicalisation of childbirth. Before the eighteenth century, childbirth was thought of as a medical phase that could be overseen by a female relative. Usually if a doctor had to get involved that meant something had gone wrong. Around this era, (eighteenth century) there were no female doctors. Since males were only exclusively called in under extreme circumstances, the act of childbirth was thought to better known to a midwife or female relative rather than a male doctor. Usually the male doctor's job was to save the mother's life if, for example, the baby had become stuck on his or her way exiting the mother.