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II[xxi]. What Must One Prepare for Labor? 1[67]. For normal labor one must prepare beforehand: olive oil, warm water, warm fomentations, soft sea sponges, pieces of wool, bandages, a pillow, things to smell, a midwife’s stool or chair, two beds, and a proper room. Oil for injection and lubrication; warm water in order that the parts may be cleansed; warm fomentations for alleviation of the pains; sea sponges for sponging off; pieces of wool in order that the woman’s parts be covered, bandages that the newborn may be swaddled; a pillow that the infant may be placed upon it below the parturient woman, till the afterbirth has also been taken care of; and things to smell (such as pennyroyal, a clod of earth, barley groats, as well as an apple and a quince and, if the season permits, a lemon, a melon, and a cucumber, <and> everything similar to these) to revive the laboring woman.
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Title: What Must One Prepare for Labor?, from Gynecology, written by Soranus Date: Roman Period, 2nd century AD Dimentions: Material: Provenance: Current Location: In circulation as a text.
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(xi) The wife of Dromeades, having given birth to a daughter and progressing in all other aspects normally, was seized by rigors on the second day, accompanied with high fever. A pain started on the subsequent day in the hypochondrium; nausea and shivering supervened. She did not sleep on succeeding days and was distraught. Breathing deep and slow, each breath immediately drawn back again. On the second day after the rigors, her stools were normal; the urine thick, white an cloudy, of the appearance of urine with sediment which has been stirred up after standing a long while. But in her case no sediment was formed. She did not sleep at night. Third day: about noon rigors, a high fever, urine as before, pain in the hyochondrium, nausea. A restless night with insomnia. Generalized cold sweats, but soon followed by warmth again. Fourth day: slight relief of the pain n the hypochondrium, a heavy headache. Fell into a stupor; a slight epistaxis occurred. Tongue dry, thirst. Urine little, thin and oily. Slept a little. Fifth day: thirst, nausea; character of urine unchanged, constipated. About noon much delirium followed quickly by a lucid phase. On going to stool she became comatose and chilled, slept during the night but was delirious. Early on the sixth day she suffered from rigors followed quickly by fever and generalized sweating; the extremities were cold and she was delirious with a slow rate of breathing. After a little while convulsions supervened starting in the head and death soon followed. |
Title: Epidemics, Book I, case xi, written by Hippocrates Date: Classical Period, 5th century Material: Provenance: Current Location: In circulation as a text.
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Title: Votive Stele of Mother Fainting After Childbirth Date: Classical Period, 5th century Dimentions: Material: Marble Provenance: Athens Current Location: New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1924; MMA 24.97.92.
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Title: Votive Stele for Plangon and Tolmides Date: Hellenistic Period, circa 320’s Dimentions: Material: Marble Provenance: Found at Oropus in the border territory between Attica and Boeotia Current Location: Athens, Athens National Archaeological Museum; NM 749.
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