Rituals and superstitions about childbirth that have haunted women for millennia

Childbirth is an event that all family members of a pregnant woman expect with excitement. But it was not always so. The history of childbirth is filled with both well-known and long-forgotten stories about women and children who could not survive them. Incorrect position of the child, postpartum sepsis, as well as stillbirths are just a few risks associated with the continuation of the human race.

Often an important role in this natural process was played by rituals and superstitions. Many of them have remained in the past, although in some parts of the world people still practice traditional rituals, which are very far from science. Today we will tell you only about a small part of this cultural heritage of many peoples.

Anglo-Saxon rituals

Anglo-Saxons relied on prayers and amulets, on which they were inspired by pagan and Christian rites and beliefs. Pregnant women, for fear of difficult birth, conducted a series of curious rituals, which included the involvement of both living and dead. For example, it was customary to read special prayers over the grave of the deceased. There were also words that should have been spoken, crossing through one of the male relatives, most often a husband. If a woman understood that her pregnancy was safe, she had to go to the local church and before the altar to thank Jesus for it.

But what if it did not work? Stillborn babies were commonplace in medieval England, so a special ritual was created to protect infants who might be born to women in the future. In order for the next pregnancy to be successful, the grieving mother should take the dirt from her baby's grave, wrap it in woolen cloth and sell it to the merchant. Naturally, this action was accompanied by a special conspiracy.

If a woman had a healthy baby, after the postpartum period she was supposed to go to church accompanied by two married women, with a veiled face. The ritual was considered complete if the woman was invited back to the church community by a local priest.

Women are punished for the sin of Eva

According to the Book of Genesis, women themselves are to blame for the pain that they have to endure during childbirth. In the biblical story, Eve tempted Adam with an apple from the tree of knowledge, although it was forbidden by God. Therefore, naturally, God punished all women "with the curse of Eve" and forced them to obey all their husbands in everything.

Medieval English midwives carried a lot of amulets, relics and herbs designed to protect the woman in childbirth, and also knew spells that were supposed to reduce the burden of Eve's curse. All these rituals were encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Protestant Reformation, with its contempt for Catholic superstitions, sought to put an end to these remedies, which were believed to provide comfort to the child in childbirth. However, many continued to secretly practice them to protect themselves and the baby.

Pliny the Elder and his bizarre advice

In ancient times childbirth was an incredibly risky business, and the death rate of mothers and children remained incredibly high. It's no wonder that many people tried to find any means or learn secrets that could facilitate this process. In the first century AD Pliny the Elder proposed a number of strange and often disgusting tools that were supposed to help relieve all the difficulties of childbirth.

What were his recommendations? For example, he advised putting the right paw of the hyena on the woman's maternity belly to help the child to come into the world. At the same time, it was absolutely impossible to use the left paw, since she could kill the woman. But what if there are no hyenas nearby? In such cases, Pliny recommended replacing her paw with a stylus or, in extreme cases, a snake skin. If the birth was particularly difficult, Pliny advised putting a fresh placenta of the dog on the woman's thighs. He also offered to prepare anesthetic potions, which included sow litter mixed with honey and wine, goose sperm mixed with water, or liquid from the ferret's womb. Where the woman's family had to find all these components, Pliny did not explain.

Strangely enough, Pliny's advice was successful among women in childbirth. Why? Despite all the microbes that were in these mixtures, their use allowed future mothers to avoid dehydration, and also focus on caring for their health, usually without leaving home.

Elixirs and potions for easier delivery

Pliny, of course, was not the only expert in the field of labor, who recommended that women take various potions and elixirs. The Chinese, for example, used opium and alcohol to alleviate pain during labor, while the ancient Egyptians practiced inhaling fumes of burnt turpentine.

In medieval Europe, midwives used "consecrated" recipes of various elixirs, which often included mulled wine or even beer. Such means were used not only during the birth itself, but also during the postnatal period, which was extended for a month. These recipes were used until the middle of the XIX century.

In 1853, Queen Victoria insisted on the use of chloroform during the birth of her eighth child. Thus, it has introduced a tendency to harm high-class representatives to use this controversial tool. Chloroform was popular in obstetrics until the end of World War II.

Childbirth in Ancient Egypt

Of course, since the first century of our era, many women have used the "wise" advice of Pliny the Elder, but what about the women in labor of older civilizations?

In Ancient Egypt, a woman's belly was rubbed with a mixture of saffron and beer to cause childbirth, and her back with oil, which is used to make fish to stimulate lactation. In addition, appeals were made to the gods and goddesses.

Childbirth in Ancient India and China

In ancient India and China it was believed that if you surround a pregnant woman with beautiful things, she will have the same beautiful child. Pregnant women were recommended to wear expensive clothes, eat delicious dishes, practice art and listen to music. For pregnant women even organized special concerts, although they were not recommended to go far from home.

Childbirth in Ancient Greece

The only purpose of a woman of this era was marriage and the birth of children. Desirable were male babies, but the fate of the girl depended on the father's decision: he could leave the child in the family or abandon him and leave somewhere at the mercy of others. In addition, it was believed that the womb of a woman can wander all over the body, causing an unexplained malaise, the only remedy for which was pregnancy. During childbirth, the woman was given a passive role, since it was believed that the child comes out of the womb through his own efforts. To drive away the "evil eye", the baby was decorated with amulets of blue beads or even garlic.

Postpartum sepsis

Postpartum sepsis, or maternal fever, women suffer for thousands of years. This is one of the most probable causes of death associated with childbirth. The disease manifests itself within three days after delivery and can strike everyone, both rich and poor. For example, Henry VIII's beloved wife, Jane Seymour, died of postpartum sepsis. Symptoms of this cryptic disease are severe fever, painful pain, attacks of mania, and it almost always ends in fatal cases.

Until the middle of the XIX century, doctors did not know what was causing the labor fever. It was assumed that the blame for all that was caused by pregnancy. To save a woman, used bloodletting.

Now we know that maternity fever is a bacterial infection that is transmitted, no doubt, through the poorly disinfected hands of midwives and doctors who take several births during the day.