Measurements of the Female Pelvis and the „Artificial Premature Birth“ in the 19th Century – an Object-Centered Study Based on the Collection of the University Women’s Clinic in Würzburg

Abstract

The collection, measurement and precise mapping of the female pelvis served to investigate the physiological birth process and its pathological deviations. Academic obstetricians considered the narrowed pelvis to be a great challenge, which made childbirth difficult and, in the worst case, endangered the life of mother and child. The article not only examines the obstetric practice of measuring the female pelvis through the scientific research of the Würzburg collection of pelvic preparations and pelvic measuring instruments. Rather, it discusses the ethical problems that arose for academic obstetricians from the measurement values that deviated from the newly defined norm. Closely connected to the history of pelvic research – so the argument – is that of „artificial premature delivery“, which has received little attention in the history of obstetrics.