childbirthpractices

3b - Traditional "slow birth," early understanding

William Harvey (1578-1657), through dissection of
cold- and warm-blooded animals, described circulation
of blood by the pumping action of the heart [1, 2]. He
concluded:

t is absolutely necessary to conclude that the

blood is in a state of

ceaseless

motion; that

this

the act or function which the heart

performs by

means of its pulse;

and that is the

sole and only

end of the motion and

contraction of the heart."

This description predated the discovery of oxygen by
more than a century [3]. In his investigations into the
origins of life and fetal development, Harvey further
pointed out the meaning and importance of pulsations
of the umbilical cord:

"Moreover, it is a sure way to know whether

the

Infant that sticketh in the

birth be

alive,

or not, by

the pulsation of the Vmbilical

Arteries. But most

certain it is, that

those

Arteries are not moved by

the virtue or

operation of

the Mothers, but of his

own

proper Heart: For they keep a distinct time

and

pawze, from the Mothers pulse:

which is

easily experimented, if you lay one

hand

upon

the Mothers wrest, and the

other on

the Infants

Navel-string.

Nay in a Casarean

Section, when

the Embryo's

have been yet

involved in

the

membrane called Chorion, I

have oftentimes

found

(even when the

Mother was extinct, and

stiffe almost with

cold) the Vmbilical Arteries

beating, and the

Foetus himself lusty."

Jakob Rüff (1500-1558) of Zürich instructed midwives
to cut the umbilical cord with clean scissors (Jch
schneid das Nabelgerthli<n> des Kinds mit einem
sauberen Scherlin auf 4 Zwerchfinger ab nahe beÿ
dem Kind...) [4]. Rüff's work was translated and
printed in English in 1637 [5]. The translation does
not mention scissors, but after cutting the cord four
fingers from the belly of the child, to then bind it with a
double thread as near to the child's belly as possible.
That there is no mention of bleeding suggests that
waiting for pulsations in the cord to cease was implied.

Figure 2 is a drawing from Rüff's work, in which he
also described the secundine (amniotic membranes
and placenta) and its attachment to the womb "with
veins and arteries, by which it attracts and draws
blood for the nourishment of the fetus, being attracted
to the infant by his navel," thus showing already in the
sixteenth century (a century before Harvey) some
understanding of the function of blood. This
knowledge was in part handed down from texts dating
back to ancient Greece [2].

Harvey, William. Anatomical exercitations concerning the generation of living creatures to
which are added particular discourses of births and of conceptions, &c.London : Printed by
James Young, for Octavian Pulleyn, and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the Rose in St.
Pauls Church-yard, 1653. From Early English Books Online, http://eebo.chadwyck.com/
Khan IA, Daya SK, Gowda RM. Evolution of the theory of circulation. Int J Cardiol. 2005 Feb 28;
98(3):519-21. (Abstract in PubMed)
Harken AH. Oxygen, politics and the American Revolution (with a note on the bicentennial of
phlogiston). Ann Surg. 1976 Nov;184(5):645-50. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.
fcgi?artid=1345500&blobtype=pdf
Keller HE. Jakob Ruf, ein Zürcher Stadtchirurg und Theatermacher im 16. Jahrhundert.
Zürich: Chronos 2006, 2007, and http://www.ds.unizh.ch/hikeller/forschung/nfprojekt_e.html.
Rüff, Jakob. The expert midwife, or An excellent and most necessary treatise of the generation
and birth of man Wherein is contained many very notable and necessary particulars requisite
to be knovvne and practised: with diuers apt and usefull figures appropriated to this worke.
Also the causes, signes, and various cures, of the most principall maladies and infirmities
incident to women. Six bookes compiled in Latine by the industry of Iames Rueff, a learned
and expert chirurgion: and now translated into English for the generall good and benefit of this
nation. London : Printed by E. G[riffin] for S. B[urton] and are to be sold by Thomas Alchorn at
the signe of the Greene Dragon in Saint Pauls church-yard, 1637. From Early English Books
Online at http://eebo.chadwyck.com/ PDF file pages: pp78-79, pp8 0 -81, pp 82 -83.

--
Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work
printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed
elsewhere from 1473-1700.

Harvey, William (1653)
Anatomical exercitations
concerning the generation of
living creatures to which are
added particular discourses
of births and of conceptions,
&c.
Khan IA et al. (2005)
Evolution of the theory of
circulation.
Harken AH (1976) Oxygen,
politics and the American
Revolution (with a note on
the bicentennial of
phlogiston).
Keller HE. Jakob Ruf, ein
Zürcher Stadtchirurg und
Theatermacher im 16.
Jahrhundert.
Rüff, Jakob (1637) The
Expert Midwife