The life span of an individual was much shorter in the nineteenth century than today.*  There are several reasons for the shorter life expectancy, all of which remained relatively unchanged throughout the century.

*Even by 1919, the average life expectancy for a male was 53.6 years, a female 54.6 years.

Households depended upon herbal medicine, traditional folk remedies and homemade prescriptions to treat their ailments.

Poultices for injuries would be created and herbs prepared to aid in soothing bad coughs.

Household manuals of the time stated that "bad air" and "bad smells" were the cause of illness. The belief of the day was that evening air was not good for you. This resulted in closed windows, not allowing for fresh air to enter the house.

Apothecaries provided medical advice in addition to dispensing drugs and prescriptions. Workers in the medical field were typically trained by someone already in practice. Apothecaries had a five-year apprenticeship, which included six months of hospital work.

Physicians received a university degree, some from Oxford or Cambridge.  Physicians were considered gentlemen and their wives could be presented at court whereas apothecaries’ wives did not enjoy this privilege. Apothecaries were seen as trained through apprenticeship and doers of manual labor. As a result, they were not considered "gentlemen."

Midwives were the women who delivered many of the babies during the nineteenth-century. Midwives received their "training" through informal apprenticeship, working for several years under a senior midwife. They learned about anatomy, herbal pharmacology and attended births and could provide advice about infant care.

A Victorian woman was better off delivering her baby at home. She could readily contract puerperal fever or "childbed fever" in the hospitals. Records indicate that midwives had a better safety record than the physicians did. This was likely due to the midwife remaining with the mother during the entire labor process. Physicians, on the other hand, went from patient to patient, potentially carrying the infection of childbed fever from one mother to another.

Formal training of midwifery began in the 1860s. The Nightingale Fund supported the establishment of a training course at King’s College Hospital in London. The Midwives Act of 1902 secured the position of trained and licensed midwives in the delivery of infants and baby care.

Some of the medical practices of the Victorians seem barbaric by twenty-first century standards. Purging, bloodletting and providing dangerous drugs likely did more harm to the patient than good. Without the medical benefits of antibiotics, many patients relied on wine, narcotic drugs, and herbal preparations to ease the symptoms of coughs, nausea, and other ailments.

Opium was given by physicians and could also be purchased without a prescription. Laudanum (opium and alcohol) was commonly used as a sleeping agent, painkiller and cough suppressant.

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