THEY may look like instruments of torture, but these devices have been gynaecological staples for hundreds of years.
The images form part of a photo archive titled Parturition that was collated by Rhode Island-based artist Lindsey Beal. To create it, she has spent the past five years visiting historical collections of medical devices used in gynaecology and childbirth.
The two tools above and the one below are different models of speculum, a device used to examine the vagina and cervix. Although various iterations have come and gone over the years – including an inflatable model – the speculum in use today has barely changed from its original design, developed by James Marion Sims, who tested it on slave women in the 1800s.
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“The oldest one I have is the lead nipple shield, which is from 1774,” says Beal. Pictured below, the shield was used by mothers who were having trouble breastfeeding – until they cottoned on to the fact that the lead was making their babies ill. Modern versions don’t look much different, although they tend to be made of silicone.
The forceps, pictured below, also have a questionable history. While forceps are still used around the world to extract babies during difficult births, the original design was kept secret by its inventors, two brothers who carried the instrument in a huge, coffin-like case so others couldn’t steal their design. They also rang a bell while using it to further confuse potential copycats. The original forceps were only discovered 200 years later, hidden beneath the floorboards of the family’s old house.
Together, the tools represent the move from childbirth being a midwife-led, home-based affair to a male-dominated hospital practice, says Beal.
Photographer
Lindsey Beal
This article appeared in print under the headline “Tools of the trade”
