L0058093 Smellie-type obstetrical forceps, United Kingdom, 1740-1760
Diane Morris | Friday, February 6th, 2015 | | No Comments
L0058093 Smellie-type obstetrical forceps, United Kingdom, 1740-1760
Credit: Science Museum, London. Wellcome Images
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William Smellie (1697-1763) was a Scottish man-midwife who invented these forceps and helped develop obstetrics. The steel blades are covered with leather. They were greased with hogs lard so the obstetrical forceps could be inserted into the body easily. Obstetrical forceps gripped a babys head during difficult labours to help delivery. The leather also prevented the alarming sound of metal clacking together.
Smellie suggested changing the leather after use to prevent venereal diseases spreading. Ignoring this advice meant they were impossible to clean properly and the leather became a haven for germs. Puerperal fever, a form of septicaemia, was an often fatal infection contracted by birthing women, so using these forceps was potentially dangerous.
maker: Unknown maker
Place made: United Kingdom
made: 1740-1760 Published: –
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
