Medieval ‘birthing girdle’ contains delivery fluid, milk, and honey

More than 500 years ago, an anxious woman faced one of the most dangerous moments known to medieval medicine: childbirth. To help her survive, she wrapped a 3-meter-long belt of parchment around her heaving belly, hoping the prayers and religious symbols that covered it would deliver her—and her baby—safely through the ordeal. Now, scientists examining the stitched-together sheepskin parchment, from 15th century England, have found that she was still wearing it when she went into labor.

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