In 1816 Madame Durocher arrived in Brazil young with her mother, a French milliner. His mother’s shop ended up not doing well and after her death, Durocher decides to learn to be a midwife. She was the first and only woman on the childbirth course at the newly created Faculty of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro. Durocher became the best-known midwife in Rio, tending to indigents, prostitutes and the Portuguese royal family.
