red paper boat

Fig. 266.–Breast, Abdominal and Vulvar Bandage in use at the New York Maternity Hospital.

The woman’s stay in bed should be prolonged as long as possible–it should be absolute for the first six days. It is only at the end of this time that we allow the bed to be re-made. The woman should be carried to another bed […] Thereafter the bed should be changed every two to three days. She should remain in bed at least three weeks, often longer, than less […] At the end of this time, she may be allowed to change to a sofa or a reclining chair. Only at the end of the thirtieth day will we allow her to walk, and only at the end of the fifth week should she resume her household duties. She should not venture out before the sixth week. […] When the woman leaves her bed, we allow her to wear corsets, but we insist on an abdominal supporter being also worn for at least six weeks. This is particularly important in women who are very stout, and in those who have borne many children, since the abdominal walls have lost more of their elasticity.

Charpentier, Dr. A., Cyclopaedia of obstetrics and gynecology: anatomy of the internal and external genitals, menstruation and fecundation, normal pregnancy and labor, being volume one of A practical treatise on obstetrics. New York: William Wood & Company, 1887.

And no wonder! She has been wrapped in swaddling clothes and confined to her bed for weeks on end. I’ll spare you the details of the bandages, what they’re comprised of, their changing, and the antiseptic douches. I wouldn’t want to give anyone nightmares.

Some of these are going to be torn up for collage work. One of them might be a candidate for altering. The two big ones are old enough that I might leave them intact. They’re not at all valuable, but they’re kind of interesting.

Cross-Section of the Female Body (Pregnant) Plate K
Burrage, Walter L. Gynecological diagnosis. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1910.

I bought a couple of super cheap Victorian gynecological texts. This is a plate from one of them. The link above is to the full-text of the book, including a pdf containing all 200+ illustrations.