This document summarizes the history of labor and childbirth through the ages from ancient India to the present day. It describes traditional practices like using midwives in ancient India and the Middle Ages. It outlines changing practices over centuries like the introduction of forceps and epidurals. It notes risks in different eras like breaking bones to deliver stuck babies or using dangerous drug combinations. Finally, it discusses modern practices like increased C-sections and the need for accessible quality care for all women during childbirth.

1. Dr. ShivaMurthy H M
Ms. Prajakta Solat
MIMER Medical College
Talegaon Pune
History Of Labor.pptx

2. LABOUR

3. A CHILD
GIVES
BIRTH TO A
MOTHER

5. What is Labour ???
Series of events that
take place in the
genital organs in an
effort to expel the
viable products of
conception(foetus,
placenta and the
membranes) out of
the womb through the
vagina into the outer
world.

6. NORMAL
LABOR(EUTOCIA)
Spontaneous
in onset
At
term With vertex
presentation
Natural
termination
with minimal
aids
Without
undue
prolongation
Without having any
complications
affecting the health
of the mother
and/or baby

7. DELIVERY???
• Expulsion or extraction
of a viable fetus out of
the womb.
• Can take place without
labour(caesarean
section).
• Types :
o Vaginal – spontaneous
or aided
o Abdominal

8. LABOUR THROUGH THE
AGES

9. ANCIENT INDIA
• When the time of delivery
arrived, the lady entered the
birth-chamber accompanied by
her midwife (dai), and
separated herself from
everyone else in the household.
• This was because labour was
considered a highly polluting
experience.

10. • While traditional methods
are preferred, if
the lady faces complicated
problems the dai may turn
the pregnancy over to
professional medical
treatment.

11. BIRTH IN THE MIDDLE AGES
• Births Assisted Exclusively By Midwives
• Male Doctors Also Wrote All The Guidelines Of
The Time On Labor And Delivery—despite Not
Performing Live Births Themselves

12. BIRTH IN THE 16TH CENTURY
• Sitting on a birthing
stool—basically a
horseshoe-shaped wood
chair without a seat—is
advised for delivery.
• Scottish woman Eufame
Maclayne was burned at
the stake in 1597 when
she asked for pain relief
from delivering twins
(according to a book by
Miss Epstein, Get Me Out).

13. BIRTH IN THE 17TH CENTURY
• Three to five women
shared a bed at the
famous Paris hospital
Hotel Dieu. This means
that "if a woman died in
childbirth, the other
ones waited hours or
even overnight for the
orderly to cart the
corpse away"•

14. BIRTH IN THE 18TH CENTURY
• Doctors become
involved
• Forceps
introduced
• If a baby was
stuck in the birth
canal, doctors
would sometimes
break the mother's
pubic bone,
resulting in her
death, but not the
baby's, or

15. BIRTH IN THE 19TH CENTURY
• “Twilight sleep"•method-
fatal combo of morphine
and scopolamine
• The drugs made it difficult
to push and babies often
required resuscitation.
• Vacuum extraction is first
used

16. BIRTH IN THE 20TH CENTURY
• Shaving pubic hair, enemas and bichloride of
mercury douches.
• New moms separated from their babies to
prevent infection.
• Babies delivered with forceps and the
placenta should be removed using a
“shoehorn maneuvre”. many deaths followed.

17. • '50s- Thorazine, nitrous
oxide, Demerol and
Benzedrine.
• “Saddle block"•- is
introduced
• Episiotomy
• '60s- Lamaze and
natural childbirth.
• '70s- most of the births
in a hospital (where
epidurals become
prevalent)
• Dads are more common
in the delivery room.

18. PRESENT DAY
• Roughly one-third of
births are performed
via C-section, with the
rate of delivery
growing by 60 percent
between 1996 and
2000.
• Increase in the
number of pregnant
women who were
scheduling the
procedures before 39

19. Birth In The Future
• Access to antenatal care in pregnancy,
skilled care during childbirth, and care
and support in the weeks after
childbirth.
• All births are attended by skilled health
professionals, as timely management
and treatment can make the difference
between life and death.
• Prevention of unwanted and too-early
pregnancies, the availability of health
care in remote or poor areas and
quality care for all income levels.

21. REFERENCES
• The Checkered History of the Delivery Room,
by Lesley Kennedy.
• Get Me Out, by Randi Hutter Epstein
• Birth Rituals in Hinduism, Mahavidya, by H.
Rodrigues
• DC Dutta’s Textbook of Obstetrics

22. MENTOR- Dr. Vaishali Korde-Nayak
and Dr. Shivamurthy HM
PRESENTER- Prajakta Solat