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.
Learn more about the first book in English on pregnancy, birth, and newborn care: The Byrth of Mankynde, 1540.
Learn about the humoral theory and it’s ideas about pregnancy, birth, and infant care including breastfeeding.
Scribonia Attice was a midwife in ancient Rome; a well-respected professional who considered herself the equal of her husband, a surgeon.
What?! An unnamed group invented modern c-sections CENTURIES before anyone else? Wow! Thank gawd for an unverified Facebook post or no one would know the TRUTH!
Okay, so newborns are effectively needy hot water bottles. But instead of looking at their helplessness at birth as a negative thing, we should consider the benefits.
These hips don’t lie. They were selected for by evolutionary pressures right along with bigger headed babies. Learn why female humans tend to have wider hips than males and why it has little to do with birth.
It’s not just that human babies are helpless at birth, it’s that they’re so huge, at least when we compare them to the size of other apes’ newborns. Fortunately we have all kinds of technology to help us carry them around. But how far back in history were our evolutionary ancestors dealing with these big babies?
Learn how the peoples of Indonesia incorporate their infant carriers into their postpartum traditions.
