Volume 4, Issue 4 – Fall 2012
Published in Chicago by the Hektoen Institute of Medicine
Pregnancy and birth: Myth and reality – a special feature
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In this issue we cover various aspects of pregnancy and birth among gods and humans. We show how gods can change themselves into clouds or beasts, or have their offspring arise from the foam of the sea or the heads of their fathers. For the daughters of Eve, the pregnancy is longer and the delivery more painful, as a consequence of the unpleasant affair with the forbidden fruit. We also show how Saint Nicolas was able to stand upright as soon as he was born, how Bacchus was born from Jupiter’s thigh, and how the giant Gargantua came into this world. Please read about women’s agelong struggle for reproductive freedom, poor Princess Charlotte, and the use of forceps to extract babies from their suffering mothers.
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