Catharina Geertruida Schrader (1656–1746), also known as the Frisian Midwife (from the Dutch province Friesland), was a successful Dutch midwife in the Early Modern Era, known for her detailed notebooks and memoirs relating the numerous births she participated in. Personal life Catharina Schrader was born in Bentheim, Germany. Her father was Friedrich Schrader and her mother was Gertrud Nibberich. She was the oldest daughter of the family, and records indicate that she had at least four brothers and one sister. Due to political and religious unrest, she and several members of her family were forced to move to Leiden (Netherlands) in the late 1670s, as she was a teenager. She was married to Ernst Wilhelm Cramer from 1683 to 1692. They first stayed in Bentheim and had two daughters, then moved to Hallum in 1686 where they had four more children. It wasn't long after their last child was born that Ernst Wilhelm Cramer died, leaving Catharina a widow, with six children to raise. She set up her practice as a midwife in January 1693, only a year after the death of her husband. Her profession caused her to travel often and even to stay over at her patients’ for long periods of time. Tired of the tedious journeys and wanting to spend more time with her children (the eldest was 10 at the time), she decided to move to Dokkum in 1695. In 1713, she married Thomas Higt, a gold and silversmith who played a leading role in the local government of Dokkum. Their marriage was quite uneventful, and lasted until Thomas Higt died in 1720, once again leaving Catharina a widow. In 1718, she assisted with the delivery of her first grandchild. Even as she was growing old, she had a robust health, and she practiced midwifery until the end of her life. Her last recorded delivery was dated February 7, 1745; she was 88 years old. Widows in the Early Modern period Widowhood was more consequential for women than it was for men, for married women were entirely dependent on their husbands. Being a widow was often synonymous of financial hardship; widows were often forced to depend on public or religious charity, more than married women did. Catharina was not an exception and did struggle financially in the first years of her widowhood. Widows also had a negative image in this period: they were seen as “ugly