childbirth

   Children were customarily born in the home in ancient Mesopotamia. Female relatives and a midwife, when possible, aided in the delivery. Birthing stools are mentioned in the Old Testament, which was written in Palestine in the first millennium b.c., so it is likely that these were used in nearby Mesopotamia as well. Otherwise, the expectant mother adopted a squatting position in the latter stages of labor. Evidence suggests that amulets and other charms were regularly used to ward off potential evil and increase the chances of a successful birth. For example, a pregnant woman sometimes wore an amulet depicting the demon Pazuzu, which had a canine face and a scaly body, to hinder the female demon Lamashtu, who was thought to cause miscarriages and crib death or to kidnap babies from wet nurses. Also, wearing a charm necklace made of twenty-one stones was thought to make delivery easier. During labor the woman might chew a piece of tree bark while a female attendant rubbed her abdomen with oil, and if the delivery was difficult, another woman recited an appropriate incantation.

   The incidences of infant mortality and of mothers dying during childbirth in ancient Mesopotamia are unknown. But they must have been similar to those in ancient Greece. There, 10 percent or more of women delivering babies died, as compared to only .01 percent in the United States today; likewise, perhaps 20 to 30 percent of babies died either in childbirth or by the age of one, compared to less than 1 percent in the United States today. In Mesopotamia babies seen as deformed (missing limbs, conjoined twins, hermaphrodites) were customarily rejected as cursed and thrown into the river. As in nearly all ancient cultures, even if they were physically sound, unwanted baby girls were exposed, or left outside to die, as male offspring tended to be more prized than female ones.

   See also: amulets; magic; women