Childbearing in medieval Europe was a highly perilous time with considerable risks for both mother and baby. Difficulties occurring during childbirth or through postpartum infection, uterine prolapse ...

In the Middle Ages, childbirth was one of the most dangerous moments in a woman’s life. With no real medicine, no anesthesia, and only a mix of faith, superstition, and basic skill, every birth ...

Images of 15th century sheepskin birthing girdles studied by Cambridge University researchers. The top-right image shows the hands and feet of Christ (i.e. the five wounds of Christ) dripping with ...

In medieval Europe, women feared childbirth. They had good reason: What would be considered simple deliveries today were fraught with dangers for both mother and child. Death and injury were common, ...

Privacy, please. Mr Pics/Shutterstock. The British royal family has released a statement saying that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will keep plans for the arrival of ...

In medieval Europe, when childbirth was highly perilous for both mother and child, women and those caring for them used various talismans to try to influence a safe delivery. Not many of those relics ...

Medieval English Birth Scroll. MS.632 (c. 1500), Wellcome Collection. The girdle contains prayers and invocations for safe delivery in childbirth. Biomolecular evidence supports its active use.

Stories retelling the birth of the Virgin Mary reveal that the Church was more forgiving of infertility than the general public during the Medieval era. At a time when societal attitudes often equated ...

Analysis of stained c. 500-year-old manuscript provides direct evidence of wear and use during childbirth. Birthing girdles are thought to have been used in medieval society to protect the wearer ...

Childbearing in medieval Europe was a highly perilous time with considerable risks for both mother and baby. Difficulties occurring during childbirth or through postpartum infection, uterine prolapse ...