It's a wonder anyone would conceive a child after reading this advertisement. A ordeal women approach with indescribable fear? Nothing compares with the pain and horror of child birth? To be fair, in the beginning of the twentieth century it was rare for a woman to ever seek care throughout her pregnancy from a doctor or hospital. Midwives were generally responsible for the delivery of most children for the first 250 years of America's existence. The maternity death rate in America was far worse than that of Europe or Asia. In 1915 there were 600 maternal deaths for every 10,000 babies delivered so there was reason to be anxious over a child's delivery.
- Advertisement is from the San Fransisco Call - November 22nd 1909.
- Family life in twentieth-century America by Marilyn Coleman, Lawrence H. Ganong, Kelly Warzinik
- Midwifery and Childbirth in America by Judith Rooks
1 comments:
Great advertisement! This stuff was deemed misbranded under the Food and Drug Act, because analysis by the Dept of Agriculture's Bureau of Chemistry found it to be nothing but a mixture of oil and soap.
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