Medieval Babies?

[shanmonster]

I figure there are a few historians, SCA folk, and childcare experts here, so I'd post this question in case anyone knows an answer.

What sorts of things were used to take care of babies in medieval times? I'm talking about the equivalent of soothers, baby bottles, onesies, strollers, diaper pins, etc. I'm imagining a lot more swaddling, and carrying babies in slings and such rather than pushing 'em around in baby buggies, especially for peasant families. I figure the rich families could afford fancier equipment.

Can you point me toward any good resources? I've looked around a bit online, but there is a LOT of unrelated chaff to wade through.

Edit: I'm not looking at just medieval Europe, practices/implements in other cultures, too. I'll consider everything from Pygmy to Romanian to Innu.

Comments

[zydee.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok, then the At Home will probably be your best bet of the resources I know about. Orme has some stuff about it too, especially about pregnancy and the resources available to pregnant women. Gies & Gies wrote some family books about the Middle Ages that might be of great value as well. Actually most of their stuff is absolute gold.

By the 1200s, England had already established a hospital to help pregnant poor women, and Italy had some too by at least the early 1400s. From what I've seen so far, it looks like it was very unusual for a woman to give birth entirely by herself, but you may find differently as you delve deeper, and it seems logical that even if there were resources available, there would always be times when someone might be on her own on such a perilous occasion.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my character is in a situation where she would not be around anyone during the birth, so it will be interesting.

Merci!