article_snippet: Men were banished from the delivery room, as were doctors, and midwives - who had learned Men trade from Men own mothers - were the experts, rubbing ointment on the swollen bellies of midwives - who had learned their trade from their own mothers - patients to speed up delivery and sprinkling herbs over the floor  to make it smell nice and help the mothers relax.
article_snippet: An ancient method of birth control was to extend breastfeeding, which is nature's way of spacing out children.'
article_snippet: A sketch of a woman sitting in a birthing chair in the mid 1500s which were thought to aid nature .
article_snippet: Mothers and midwives also used special birthing chairs, which women believed put women in the best position possible to deliver women baby.
article_snippet: Leah Astbury, who is studying for a doctorate at Cambridge University and researching maternal and infant health in 17th century England, said: 'Women gave birth at home, assisted by a midwife and a group of female friends, neighbours and family members, called gossips.
article_snippet: This treated disk was said to determine the sex of an unborn child after This treated disk was placed on the tongue .
article_snippet: Babies in a maternity unit in the 1950s and 1960s were kept in one room to enable Babies in a maternity unit in the 1950s and 1960s mothers to rest .
article_snippet: Three pregnant women relax in medical 'space-suits' in 1965 in an attempt to ease childbirth and raise the intelligence of Three pregnant women offspring.
article_snippet: The medical man notes that placenta was placed on the baby’s head  to prevent sore eyes, while at the time there were few tools and a hook called a 'crotchet' was employed to pull out, often dead, babies.
article_snippet: It was also customary for mothers to be given an enema to 'clear mothers out' and women were routinely given a vaginal shave for 'hygenic reasons'.
highlights_snippet: In late 1600s, the placenta was placed on a newborn's head to soothe eyes .
  