Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Arielle Juberg
University of Pittsburgh
1
What is a birth abnormality?
2
Commonly-known Birth Defects
• Spina Bifida
• Club Foot
Spina Bifida
• Down Syndrome
Club Foot 3
Less well-known birth defects
• Anencephaly: Brain fails to develop, resulting in
small or missing hemispheres2
•Conjoined twins
•There are 7 types of conjoined twins, depending
on where the individual bodies are fused
4
Studying Birth Defects Today
• Teratology: the study of malformations or
serious deviations from the normal type in
developing organisms5
5
Historical Views
• How were birth abnormalities understood in
previous societies?
• What can this tell us about societal attitudes
and medical knowledge?
Beliefs in society
Medical Knowledge
about disability
Availability of Religious
treatment options How were Views
birth defects
understood?
6
Disabilities in the Ancient World
Features in Society:
• Polytheistic (worshipping many gods)
• Paternalistic (father is leader of household)
• Agriculture is dominant
• The rise of empires: Hittites (1600-1200 BCE),
Assyrians (911-612 BCE), Babylonians (626-
529 BCE)
• Rise of Greek city-states and the Classical Age
(448-404 BCE)
• The Roman Empire (27 BCE- 476 AD)
7
What was the cause of deformity?
1) Maternal imagination: Images that the mother
views during conception or in the early months of
her pregnancy can imprint themselves on the
fetus
Example: Galen of Pergamum (129-215 BCE)
suggests looking at a portrait of a beautiful child
to give birth to an attractive infant6
Example: Christian Bible, Genesis 30:39 “And the
flocks conceived at the sight of the rods”
Jacob places speckled branches in front of
mating sheep in order to produce speckled
lambs
8
2) Conditions during conception and the womb:
the temperature and age of the seed, the
direction of the wind, and the quality of
water7
11
Reactions in Greek City-States
• Lack of medical care meant most children died
before or shortly after birth
12
The Greek God Hephaestus
The Greek God Hephaestus is the middle figure in this scene, painted on a
Greek amphora. His malformed feet are clearly visible 13
Reaction in Roman Empire
• Head of family (paterfamilias) responsible for
disposing of abnormal child, often by throwing in
the Tiber River
• In Imperial era, royal and upper class families
owned individuals with disabilities for
amusement (similar to a side-show)22
• The teraton agora, or monster market, sold
slaves with deformities23
• Individuals with disabilities (particularly
hermaphrodites) also the targets of violence from
mobs of citizens24
14
Were these children part of society?
• Although called monsters, prodigies, and
portents, children with disabilities not seen as
supernatural or non-human
15
Pre-Modern Europe
Major Events
1060: William the Conqueror invades England
1517: Protestant Reformation
1095: First Crusade
1648: Peace of Westphalia
1348-1358: Black Death
In pre-modern Europe, a
child born with anencephaly
Figure 28. Prodigious figure was often said to have the
of a child having the face of face of a frog.
a frog The underdeveloped brain
Ambroise Pare , On and skull created facial
Monsters and Marvels qualities that could be
compared to a frog
19
On Monsters and Marvels 1573
A ‘manne chylde,
having three armes,
three legges and
very terrible to
beholde.’
From 1581
23
Pregnancy and Childbirth in Pre-Modern
Europe
Birth Superstitions
•Legend holds that Countess
Margaret gave birth to 365
children in one day35
•A sooterkin was a mole-like
creature present in the womb
with a child; it acted as a
parasite and sucked on the
fetus’ blood36
25
Lazarus Colloredo and his twin
A broadside advertising Colloredo 26
•Images of the Gonzales family, who
suffered from congenital
hypertrichosis, extreme hairiness.
•Although originally from the Canary
Islands , the family was relocated to
Europe
This man was nicknamed “Lionel the Lion-man” by Barnum and Bailey Circus
29
Krao with a European gentleman
and a sideshow poster featuring
Krao.
30
Abnormalities in the Modern World
•Medical advances have improved treatment options
and quality of life for infants with abnormalities
32
Living with Abnormalities
Children born with abnormalities may need:
• Medical equipment
• Specialized care
• Frequent doctor’s visits
33
Thalidomide
•Thalidomide was meant as a
sleeping aid but prescribed to
pregnant women to treat
anxiety and nausea
•The drug caused serious birth
abnormalities for hundreds of
children50
•Mothers of thalidomide babies
felt responsible for the
conditions of their children
•Thalidomide led to stricter
tests to determine a drug’s
An infant with birth abnormalities from
impact on a fetus thalidomide
34
Americans with Disabilities Act 1990
President Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, 1990
Amsvans.com
35
Discrimination in the 20th Century
• Sideshows remained popular until late 1930s
36
Contemporary Beliefs
• Belief in material imagination can be
compared to playing classical music for the
fetus55
• In 1958, a publication still argued that
emotional distress to the mother could
negatively affect the fetus56
• In 2010, a video circulating on the Internet
claimed that “Cat Gives Birth to Puppy”58
37
Contemporary Concerns
• Ethical and legal issues exist around infants
with birth abnormalities and their projected
quality of life
• Does our current medical knowledge focus
more on diagnosis than treatment?
• Do our methods of handling birth deformities
add more difficulties to individuals?
38
The Future
“We no longer gawk at the handicapped,
disfigured, or mentally ill in freak shows, but
do we regard them as equals, or as friends?”62
Arielle Juberg
University of Pittsburgh 2011
Arielle.juberg@gmail.com
40
Works Cited
1 Congenital disorder. 2010. In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 Dec, 2010,
from Encyclopædia Britannica Online:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/132266/congenital-disorder
2 Anencephaly. 2010. In The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 16 Dec, 2010 from The
Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anencephaly
3 Hermaphrodism. 2010. In The Free Dictionary. Retrieved December 16, 2010
from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hermaphrodism
4 Ibid
5 Teratology. 2010 In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 16 Dec, 2010 from Merriam-
Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teratology
6 Stolm M. 2000. Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting.
Groningen: Styx Publications. Pg. 157
7 Garland, Robert. 1995. The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the
Graeco-Roman World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Pg. 150
8 Pare, Ambroise. 1982 ed. On Monsters and Marvels. Trans. Janis L. Pallister.
Chicago: The University of Chicago. Pg. 5
9 Garland pg. 150
10 Stol pg. 167
11 Bates, A.W. 2005. Emblematic Monsters: Unnatural Conceptions and
Deformed Births in Early Modern Europe. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Pg 76.
12 Ibid. pg. 26
41
13 Stol 2000
14 Bates pg. 49
Works Cited
15 Ibid. pg. 26
16 Garland
17 Stol pg. 165
18 Garland pg. 12-13
19 Stol pg. 165
20 Garland pg. 14
21 Ibid. pg. 29
22 Ibid. pg. 45
23 Ibid. pg. 46-7
24 Ibid. pg. 68
25 Ibid. pg. 45-49
26 Ibid. pg. 68
27 Wilson, Dudley. 1993. Signs and Portents: Monstrous Births from the
Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. London: Routledge. Pg. 58
28 Ibid. pg. 58
42
Works Cited
29 Graves, Rolande. 2001. Born to Procreate: Women and Childbirth in France
from the Middle Ages to the 18th Century. New York: Peter Lang. pg. 56
30 Bates 118
31Pare
32 Bates 27
33 Ibid. pg. 225
34 Ibid. pg. 16
35 Bondeson, Jan. 2000. The Two-Headed Boy and Other Medical Marvels.
Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Pg. 69
36 Bates, pg. 128
37 Ibid. pg. 46
38 Ibid. pg. 152; Bondeson pg. 6
39 Bondeson pg. vii
40 Ibid. pg. 11
41 Wilson pg. 108
43
Works Cited
42 Bondeson 30
43 Deutsch, Helem and Feliciy Nussbaum, eds. 2000. Defects: Engendering the
Modern Body. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Pg. 97
44 Bondeson pg. 27, 29
45 Iannucci, Liza. 2000. Birth Defects. Berkeley Heights: Enslaw Publishers Inc.
pg. 16.
46 Murkoff, Heidi and Sharon Mazel. 2008. What to Expect When You’re
Expecting. 4th ed. New York:Workman Publishing.
47 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 2005. Your
Pregnancy and Birth. 4th ed. Washington D.C.
48 “Elena’s Story.” Online Posting. 2009. Real Stories, Spina Bifida Association
of America. July 14, 2010.www.spinabifidaassociation.org
49 Ibid.
50 The Insight Team of the Sunday Times of London. 1979. Suffer the
Children: The Story of Thalidomide. New York: The Viking Press.
51 Ibid.
52 Wilson pg. 189
44
Works Cited
53 Ibid.
54 Bondeson, 35
55 Murkoff, pg. 248
56 Strean, Lyon P. 1958. The Birth of Normal Babies. New York: Twayne
Publishers.
57 Ibid.
58 “Cat Gives Birth to Puppy in Georgia.” 2010. Russia Today. 26 July.
59 Walters, LeRoy. 1983. “Ethical and Legal Issues in the Treatment of
Handicapped Newborns.” In Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects in
Families and Society: Toward Interdisciplinary Understanding. Ed. Joan O.
Weiss, Barbara A. Bernhardt, Natalie W. Paul. White Plains: March of
Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.
60 Cohen, Libby G. 1990. Before Their Time: Fetuses and Infants at Risk.
Washington D.C: American Association on Mental Retardation.
61 The Insight Team of the Sunday Times of London.
45
Works Cited
62 Hsia, Edward Y. 1983. “To Strive for the Best, Together” In. Genetic
Disorders and Birth Defects in Families and Society: Toward
Interdisciplinary Understanding Conference. Barbara A. Bernhardt, Natalie
W. Paul., Joan O. Weiss, eds. White Plains: March of Dimes Birth Defects
Foundation.
63 Ibid
46