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Monday, November 19, 2012

18th Century Birthing Chair

From io9:
From the ancient times until the 1800s, many women gave birth with the aid of parturition chairs, specially designed seats that allowed women to sit upright or recline while giving birth. This particular chair had padded leather rests for the mother's legs, but the parturition chairs came in a number of flavors. Some had extendable leg rests that aren't a far cry from modern gynecological stirrups. Others were much simpler, simply giving those assisting with the birth easy access to the infant while the mother remained somewhat upright.


2 comments:

  1. It is a well executed post. I like the diagram most. It is a helpful informative post. Thanks for sharing this great information.

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  2. Thank you for providing this image. I recently came across some information about these chairs. A woman named Benedetta Fedeli Trevisan, who had trained as a midwife in Venice around 1800, invented a new style of chair that allowed the mother-to-be to lay back. I bet her chair looked a lot like the second image you have here.

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