I’m a sucker for the British period drama Call The Midwife. The show has its corny moments admittedly, but it’s fascinating to watch how pregnant women, midwives and nuns living in the poor East End of London during the 1950s dealt with safe childbirth in the era before epidurals, C-sections or even adequate sanitary conditions.
So when I saw these fabric wombs dated around 1760 I was immediately transfixed and interested. Pioneering midwife Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray created the fabric wombs as a teaching tool:
In 1759 the king commissioned her to teach midwifery to rural women to reduce infant mortality. Between 1760 to 1783, she traveled rural France, sharing her knowledge with women. During this time, she is estimated to have directly trained 4,000 students.
Du Coudray invented the first lifesize obstetrical mannequin, called “The Machine.” Various strings and straps serve to simulate the process of childbirth. The head of the infant mannequin has a shaped nose, stitched ears, hair drawn with ink, and an open mouth, with tongue.
While they’re semi-creepy to look at, I’m sure they saved a lot of lives.