Births and Birthing
The practices surrounding medieval childbirth
DURING LABOUR - POST-BIRTH OBSERVANCES - BREASTFEEDING - SWADDLING BANDS

Many women suffered greatly and many more died in childbirth regardless of whether they were rich or poor. A medieval gynecological treatise from the medical school of Salerno called The Diseases of Women wrote of the horrors and dangers of childbirth with little to relieve the stresses of childbirth other than poultices and prayer.

During labour
Many options were available for the woman who was birthing but none were particularly effective. Largely these consisted of herbal poultices, folk remedies and devout prayer. Invoking the name of Saint Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth, was always believed to ease labour pains and assure a safe delivery.

Potions advocated for childbirth in the middle ages included rubbing the flanks of the expectant mother with rose oil, giving her vinegar and sugar to drink, or applying poultices of ivory or eagle's dung.

Gemstones were also utilised to ease childbirth. Placing a magnet in the mother's hand was believed to provide relief as was wearing coral around her neck. In the twelfth century, Hildegard Von Bingham wrote of the powers of the stone called sard:

If a pregnant woman is beset by pain but is unable to give birth, rub sard around both of her thighs and say "Just as you, stone, by the order of God, shone on the first angel, so you, child, come forth a shining person, who dwells with God." Immediantly, hold the stone at the exit for the child, that is, the female member, and say, "Open you roads and door, in that epipany by which Christ appeared both human and God, and opened the gates of Hell. Just so, child, may you also come out of this door without dying, and without the death of your mother." Then tie the same stone to a belt and cinch it around her, and she will be cured.

Another suggestion for the delivery of a breech birth said that the midwife should:

with her small and gentle hand moistened with a decoction of flaxseed and chickpeas, put the child back in it's place and proper position.

In cases of difficult births for noble ladies, the mother-to-be could have been advised to put on a holy girdle which would help to alleviate the pains. At Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, monks guarded the girdle of St Ailred as it was known to be helpful to ladies lying in. The Sickness of Women, one of the texts attributed to Trotula, wrote of a beneficial girdle made of a hart's skin and also wrote of Jasper being beneficial.

Royal births were accompanied by much pomp and ceremony. When Henry III's pregnant queen Eleanor was due with her fourth child, she borrowed the Virgin's Girdle and a thousand candles were lit around her husband's tomb. The baby boy was christened Edmund because the antiphon of St Edmund was being chanted on Eleanor's behalf at the time of the baby's safe delivery.

Pictured above at left is a detail from a fresco by Da Milano in 1365 of The Birth of The Virgin. The mother is attended by many women who stand by with towels and water to wash the new babe. Whether the mother is accurately portrayed in her clothing or whether she is painted that way to preserve her modesty can only be guessed at. Other images of births usually show the mother as partially clad or in a chemise although the illumination detail at the top of the page, artist unknown, shows a woman who is completely naked.

Post-birth observances
Lorenzetti's painting The Birth of Mary painted in 1342 at right, shows a birthing scene. Women attend the childbirth and wash the infant while men wait outside. Bowls to wash with and towels are shown, much as the home births of today are prepared for.

Rituals surrounding medieval childbirth included the essential burning of the newborn's umbilical cord in the household fireplace. The puryifing influence of fire was seen as a way of counteracting the sinful origins of conception.

Hildegard Von Bingham, writing from the twelfth century, offered helpful advice to mothers who had just given birth. She advocated that from the time of the child's birth and throughout its infancy, a stone of jasper should be kept on her hand. Possibly, she means, set into a ring, although this is unclear. The jasper would also protect the child from evil as it emerges from the womb.

New mothers were forbidden to attend church until properly prepared post-birth in the ritual of "churching". This was the ceremony where a woman was welcomed back into the church after childbirth and was once again permitted to take the sacraments. Until that time, a woman might not touch holy water, bake bread or prepare food.

How rigidly this baking of bread and preparing of food was adhered to in a small domestic or peasant setting is unknown. Certainly in larger, more affluent households where help was available, the practice would have been carefully noted. It seems unlikely that a peasant woman would refrain from her chores for any extended period of time if she had a husband and other children in her care.

Breastfeeding
Many noble women were often not too involved in the direct upbringing of their babies, preferring to hire the services of a wet nurse in place of breastfeeding the children themselves. This, of course, was not encouraged by the church who felt that if the Virgin suckled her own child, then noble women should do likewise.

At right is an image from 1360 by Barnaba da Modena of The Virgin and Child showing Mary with her breast exposed for breastfeeding, although clearly the positioning of the baby is more symbollic than realistic.

Swaddling bands
Newborns and infants were wrapped in swaddling bands. This was believed to provide warmth, encourage the baby's limbs to grow straight and keep the baby supported. One common belief was that the limbs were loosely-jointed and that sudden movements were harmful to the development of the child.

Archaeological records suggest that swaddling first developed around 4000 BC in Asia by migrating peoples. The cradle board was worn on the back of the parent with the baby securely swaddled for travel. The practice of swaddling then became an institutionalized part of baby-rearing in those areas. In Europe, however, there were two main swaddling methods: the tightly-swathed circular technique and the looser criss-cross technique. Swaddling clothes generally consisted of a square of cloth with two or more additional bandages for securing the square. The baby was laid on the cloth diagonally and the corners were folded over the body and the feet and under the head with the bandages being tied securely around the baby. This formed the baby's clothing until it was about a eight or nine months of age.

Soranus, a physician from the second century, wrote about the swaddling of infants. He recommended that babies be tightly bound from the feet to the shoulders. His recommendations were later included in medical and midwifery books in late 15th century Europe.

This detail at left above from the Master of Trebon, The Adoration Of Jesus circa 1380 shows the babe snugly wrapped from tip to toes. The detail shown at right by Geburt Christi dated at 1330 is slightly unusual in that it shows the baby Jesus wrapped in green swaddling bands instead of the traditionally depicted white.

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