Agnodice, 'the first midwife'? Why this is a myth, and a powerful one at that.
Category: midwives
Birth and risk: perceiving risk in historical societies
How can you work out past societies' awareness of risk, before stats come along to help? How was risk handled in ancient Greece?
The mummy returns
Have you seen the Egyptian mummies in the British Museum? Even if you’ve never been to London, you may have caught the travelling exhibition, ‘Mummy: The Inside Story’, which focuses on the priest Nesperennub, and has so far been seen by nearly 2 million people. Mummies are endlessly fascinating. They give nightmares… Continue reading The mummy returns
Who Keeps Women’s Secrets?
“Do you want to know a secret?” Knowledge is power, but who knew what about women's bodies in the ancient world?
Medical instruments as bling?
If you freeze at the sight of a medical instrument... .. you are not alone! Historically, physicians have tried various methods to reduce the fear induced in the patient by seeing what is coming their way. For women, possibly the most scary of all is the obstetrics forceps; if there was ever an instrument to strike terror… Continue reading Medical instruments as bling?
Mistaking histories 