What qualified as a natural birth in the 16th century? In this post, we look at what the Birth of Mankind, from 1540, had to say about a natural birth in the Tudor Era including birthing positions, recipes for potions, pessaries, vaginal incense, pain relieving lubricants, herbal baths with toxic heavy metals, as well as what kind of diet and exercise the Tudor woman should have in later pregnancy and during labor.
The frequently misrepresented sketch of a Ugandan woman’s surgical delivery, in 1879, as witnessed and recorded by Robert W. Felkin and presented to the Edinburgh Obstetrical Society in 1884.
A young woman nursing a baby, was painted in 1868 by Dutch landscape painter, Jacob Maris. He was living in Paris when he painted this portrait of his wife Catharina Hendrika Horn breastfeeding their first baby, Guillaume [gee-um] who was born in April of 1868 and tragically died the following […]
Learn more about the first book in English on pregnancy, birth, and newborn care: The Byrth of Mankynde, 1540.
Urine is a used for pregnancy tests now… and in 17th century Europe.
Learn about the humoral theory and it’s ideas about pregnancy, birth, and infant care including breastfeeding.
Beatrice Baxter Ruyl was a progressive, well-educated woman who came of age at the turn of the 20th century. She worked as an illustrator and author, focusing on depictions of the Zuni Pueblo, but she is best recognized as the subject of breastfeeding photography by Gertrude Kasebier in the early 1900’s.
