16th c. midwifery as described by a physician

[bunnyjadwiga]

Some notes from the 1513 midwife's manual:
In childbirth, a woodcut

Birthing Chair: Woodcut from Der Swangern Frawen und he bammen roszgarten, by Eucharius Rösslin, 1513.
Apparently a birthing chair was sometimes used, as well as a half-lying position and apparently a hands-and-knees position:

...She should lie down on her back, but she should not lie down completely and yet also she also should not quite be standing, but rather it should be somewhere in the middle . . . And in high German lands, and also in Italian lands the midwives have special chairs for a woman's labor, and these are not high, but carved out and hollow on the inside, as depicted here. And these should be made so the woman can lean back on her back . . . And if she is fat, she should not sit, rather she should lie on her belly, and lay her forehead on the ground and pull her knees to her belly . . .

Rösslin, Eucharius. When Midwifery became the Male Physician's Province: the sixteenth century handbook The Rose Garden for Pregnant Women and Midwives [Der Swangern Frawen und he bammen roszgarten] newly Englished. Translated by Wendy Arons. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994)

NB: Bizarrely, the wife of one of my acquaintances was only able to give birth via natural childbirth when she assumed this position; and she's one of the skinniest women I know!

Comments

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

I've heard that hands-and-knees is better for "sunny-side up" babies, and for shoulder dystocia. Nothing to do with mom's size, although some believe that fat moms are more likely to have gestational diabetes and therefore more shoulder dystocia risk (which evidence shows is bunk). Hands and knees is fairly similar to the latter position described, if I'm envisioning it right. So maybe your friend had one or the other of these?

I spent most of labor hands-and-knees but didn't deliver that way. I think she may have been posterior and then turned.

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I will have to note that for further investigation. Thanks.

Interesting website on this, too:
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/shoulderDystocia.html

I wonder if putting heavier women in this position might have been done to prevent shoulder dystocia.

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

Ps, are you working on an article about this? Do you mind if I link to this entry? I know lots of people who'd love to read about it. ;)

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Feel free to link to this, or to my Women and Medicine handout:
http://gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html

I'm working on this on an ongoing basis.

[amykb.livejournal.com]

When Mary's heart rate plummeted, the put me up on my hands and knees--it seems the blood flow to the baby is better in this position and their heart will beat stronger if they are in any distress....since my placenta had torn, it didn't help her, but I guess it often makes a big difference from what my Ob-Gyn told me.