Birth Girdle
Early 15th Century, The British Library
Lucinda Bennett, the Medical Librarian at Ascension St Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD, publishes a regular series on Art in Medicine and The Health Humanities.
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Medieval Birth Girdles
Throughout history and across the globe, people have created talismans, good luck charms, and all manner of comforting items meant to help guide us through hard times. Often these talismans hold a spiritual meaning and are artfully crafted. In the European Medieval period, religion proliferated every aspect of life and an industry sprouted up around the creation of such aides.
Recently an exhibit at The British Library entitled “Medieval Women in Their Own Words” highlighted the contributions of women throughout this era. One object on display is of note for the health humanities, a highly decorated and rare example of a birthing girdle. Used as protection during the Early 15th century extremely dangerous period of labor and delivery, such items were implemented in England prior to the Protestant Reformation and somewhat into the Modern era of the 16th century. However, a Medieval Women in Their Own Words recent analysis of one such girdle had shed light on just how the girdle was actually used.
“In the medieval era, medical problems that might be considered minor today—such as a breech birth, in which the infant’s feet, buttocks or both are positioned to be delivered before the head—could prove fatal for the mother and child, as Alixe Bovey wrote for the British Library in 2015. According to the Guardian, historians posit that childbirth was the main cause of death for English women between the late 5th and 11th centuries; the study notes that the neonatal mortality rate during this period was between 30 and 60 percent.” (Smithsonian)
With such a high mortality rate for both women and newborns, it is no wonder that for centuries patients, midwives and the religious authorities were desperate to find any way to prevent such outcomes. Where then did the practice of wrapping a girdle around a pregnant woman come from? Like so many aspects of the Medieval era, one needs only look to the Church for answers. In this case, the use of birth girdles stems from a connection to multiple female saints and Marian devotion, a practice of veneration of the Virgin Mary of this era. Specific imagery, colors, and excerpts from scripture used together in everyday items from this time period have their own field of study.
Such a lens can be applied to understanding the origins and development of this girdle. “In ‘English Birthing Girdles: Devotions for Women in ‘Travell of Childe,’ Mary Morse examines the texts and images deployed of nine English birth girdles produced between the reigns of Richard II and Henry VIII. She sets out the perceived benefits of the objects; ‘In medieval England, women in labour wrapped birth girdles around their abdomens to protect themselves and their unborn children. These parchment or paper rolls replicated the “girdle relics” of the Virgin Mary and other saints loaned to queens and noblewomen, extending childbirth protection to women of all classes.’ The legendary relic of the Belt (or Girdle) of the Blessed Virgin Mary is today divided into three pieces, and is the only remaining relic of her earthly life. According to tradition, the belt was made out of camel hair by the Virgin Mary herself, and at her Assumption, she gave it to the Apostle Thomas.” (Ritual Protection Marks)
Lately, one extant birthing girdle went under the first thorough testing to ascertain if it had actually been worn during labor as well as during pregnancy. What researchers found was fascinating and included a possible lifespan for the tool as well as evidence of multiple uses.
“By gently rubbing the fragile girdle with an eraser, researchers were able to extract preserved proteins without damaging the parchment. Next, they compared their results with samples from a new piece of paper and an 18th century parchment. The girdle contained dozens of additional proteins. "There were traces of honey, milk, eggs, cereals, and legumes—and quite a bit more human proteins," Fiddyment says. Many of those, she adds, are specific to cervico-vaginal fluid, suggesting the birth girdle was used during labor itself, the researchers report today in Royal Society Open Science.” (Science.Org)
How birthing girdles may have been worn
Drawing, 2021, Smithsonian
This specific girdle (labeled as Manuscript 632 in the above article) was dated to a creation around the late 15th Drawing century, and is comprised of sheepskin parchment. With such findings of human proteins, evidence suggests that the girdle was tied around the women who used it during the moment of childbirth.
As for the foods present, those are attributed to both dedicated diets of the patient as well as medical uses, honey being a common medicinal since ancient times. What can also be discovered from the scroll is how often it was touched, used, even clues as to how the parchment was folded and wrapped around the body. "MS. 632's severe abrasions implies that it was often touched or kissed, and accords with widespread evidence of medieval votive practices, where an image was kissed or rubbed so frequently the image is worn and blurred [21]. Its narrow width (330.0 × 10.0 cm) suggests that it was intended to imitate an actual metal or cloth girdle that could be wrapped around a woman's body, with the strategic placement of particular prayers against her womb.” (Royal Society Publishing)
This birth girdle is rare. During the reign of Henry VIII the Dissolution of the Monasteries was enacted, the first wave of the Protestant Reformation in England. Such objects associated with Catholicism were appropriated by the crown and often destroyed. That same analysis which discovered the use of the girdle during labor also discovered the lifespan of this particular example, which abuts the Tudor dynasty which would make it illegal.
“The chronological window during which these proteins embedded on MS. 632 is cautiously suggested between 1475 and 1625. The birth girdle dates to the late fifteenth-century, at earliest, providing the first date. The end date is more difficult to determine. In sixteenth-century England, power fluctuated between Catholic and Protestant monarchs, each influencing birthing practices, including the use of birthing girdles [30]. Because birth girdles were targeted during the Dissolution, this girdle may have been quietly stored. If this is the case, the girdle's active years of use extend from roughly 1475 to 1536—only 60 years of use.” (Royal Society Publishing)
References:
Smithsonian Magazine
Royal Society Publishing
Science.Org
Ritual Protection Marks
As for the foods present, those are attributed to both dedicated diets of the patient as well as medical uses, honey being a common medicinal since ancient times. What can also be discovered from the scroll is how often it was touched, used, even clues as to how the parchment was folded and wrapped around the body. "MS. 632's severe abrasions implies that it was often touched or kissed, and accords with widespread evidence of medieval votive practices, where an image was kissed or rubbed so frequently the image is worn and blurred [21]. Its narrow width (330.0 × 10.0 cm) suggests that it was intended to imitate an actual metal or cloth girdle that could be wrapped around a woman's body, with the strategic placement of particular prayers against her womb.” (Royal Society Publishing)
This birth girdle is rare. During the reign of Henry VIII the Dissolution of the Monasteries was enacted, the first wave of the Protestant Reformation in England. Such objects associated with Catholicism were appropriated by the crown and often destroyed. That same analysis which discovered the use of the girdle during labor also discovered the lifespan of this particular example, which abuts the Tudor dynasty which would make it illegal.
“The chronological window during which these proteins embedded on MS. 632 is cautiously suggested between 1475 and 1625. The birth girdle dates to the late fifteenth-century, at earliest, providing the first date. The end date is more difficult to determine. In sixteenth-century England, power fluctuated between Catholic and Protestant monarchs, each influencing birthing practices, including the use of birthing girdles [30]. Because birth girdles were targeted during the Dissolution, this girdle may have been quietly stored. If this is the case, the girdle's active years of use extend from roughly 1475 to 1536—only 60 years of use.” (Royal Society Publishing)
References:
Smithsonian Magazine
Royal Society Publishing
Science.Org
Ritual Protection Marks
Reprinted with the generous permission of Ms. Bennett.