Ancient Egyptian Medicine 2 - Women’s health
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Women’s
health was also closely looked after by the ancient Egyptians. Physicians
in obstetric and gynaecology were present in ancient Egypt together with a
number of midwives.
The Egyptians liked
to have large families, partly because of the high mortality rate, and
partly because a numerous progeny reflected credit on the parents
especially he father. Fertility, the gift of
Osiris, was prized and sterility was more than unfortunate. A childless wife was
likely returned to her father. There were many prescriptions for aiding
conception and the Egyptians developed their own forms of pregnancy tests to
confirm the good news. Contraception was also practiced but with rather weird
magical potions.
Many women died as young
adults, and childbirth and associated complications may well have been the
cause. Many children also died,this would have led to women having numerous
children, and for some women these successive pregnancies would have been fatal.
Even after giving birth successfully, women could still die from complications
such as puerperal fever. It was not until the 20th century that improved
standards of hygiene during childbirth started to prevent such deaths
People are open
to the greatest health risks during infancy and early childhood, and in Egypt
there was a high infant mortality rate. During the breastfeeding period the baby
is protected from infections by ingesting
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Mother's milk, but once weaned onto solid
foods the chances of infection are high. Consequently many infants would have
died of diarrhoea and similar disorders caused by food contaminated by
bacteria or even intestinal parasites. In some ancient Egyptian cemeteries at
least a third of all burials are those of children.
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Different tests used by the
Egyptians: |
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Fertility
was diagnosed by placing garlic in the vagina for one night. If the next day
the woman can taste or smell it in her mouth, she is fertile. This is based
upon the connection between the genital parts and interior of the body. Such
connection would be lost in a case of obstructed Fallopian tubes. In modern
medicine, phenolphthalein injected in the uterus would appear in urine based
upon the same principle. A test known to gynecologists as “Speck’s test”.
The physicians of Ancient Egypt understood
that infertility could occur in both male and female partners. They also
recognised the role of male ejaculate in pregnancy.
Diagnosis of pregnancy and sex
determination of the future
child was based on the fact that pregnant urine germinates cereals more
rapid then non-pregnant one. If the child was a male, the urine would
germinate wheat, and if a female, it would geminate barley.
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Delivery
was performed in the squatting position, with the
woman supporting her arms on knees and sitting on two bricks. Difficult labors
were aided by burning resin, or massaging the abdomen by saffron powder and
beer. Abortions were done by introduction of warm oil and fat in the vagina.
“Houses of birth”
or “Mammisi” were near to temples. They were visited by pregnant women seeking
divine help, rather than being a birth place.
Birth took place within the family home, with
the assistance of a midwife. A birthing stool was used for the mother to squat
on, her baby passing through a hole in the seat into the hands of the midwife.
The umbilical cord was cut with a knife of obsidian, and the placenta was
sometimes buried at the doorstep.
Infants
were breast fed for three years, and this was
encouraged:
Milk stimulants were resorted to, as mentioned
in Ebers Papyrus.
Only when the mother failed to feed her
infant, they resorted to cow milk.
Contraception
was also performed by the insertion of crocodile oil, gum acacia or honey
consperge and natron into the vagina. Gum acacia when dissolved produces lactic
acid, a very effective known spermicidal.
Kahun Gynecological Papyrus
The Kahun Papyrus was discovered by Flinders Petrie in April of 1889 at the
Fayum site of Lahun. The town itself flourished during the Middle Kingdom,
principally under the reign of Amenenhat II and his immediate successor. The
gynecological text can be divided into thirty-four paragraphs, of which the
first seventeen have a common format. The first seventeen start with a title and
are followed by a brief description of the symptoms, usually, though not always,
having to do with the reproductive organs.
The second section begins on the third page, and comprises eight paragraphs.
Paragraph 19 is concerned with the recognition of who will give birth; paragraph
20 is concerned with the fumigation procedure which causes conception to occur;
and paragraphs 20-22 are concerned with contraception. Among those materials
prescribed for contraception are crocodile dung, 45ml of honey, and sour milk.
The third section (paragraphs 26-32) is concerned with the testing for
pregnancy. Other methods include the placing of an onion bulb deep in the
patients flesh, with the positive outcome being determined by the odor appearing
to the patients nose.
The fourth and final section contains two paragraphs which do not fall into any
of the previous categories. The first prescribes treatment for toothaches during
pregnancy. The second describes what appears to be a fistula between bladder and
vagina with incontinence of urine.
Children
The children in
ancient Egypt lived a calm and peaceful life, they played outdoors and the diet
was varied and adequate. However, not all of them
survived into adulthood. There were a number of uncurable diseases like
smallpox, leprosy and poliomyelitis. They
suffered from insect born diseases such as malaria and trachoma, an eye disease,
measles, tuberculosis, and cholera. It is believed that there were occasional
outbreaks of the bubonic plague spread along trade routes from the east. They
contracted diseases such as trichinae, parasitic worms, and tuberculosis from
their livestock.
The ancient Egyptians also had male circumcision done for all males. They
performed it in between the ages of 6 and 12. They did it for reasons of
hygiene.
A number of known obstetricians that we know
in history were present in Egypt.
Philo Judaeus (c.20 BC-50AD) lived and
worked in Alexandria.
Soranos of Ephesus (98-177 AD) was a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist of
his day. He trained at Alexandria and practiced in Rome. He supported the
official training of midwives and wrote a major work, On Midwifery and the
Diseases of Women.
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