Soranus of Alexander divided pregnancy into three parts for the benefit of his Roman clients. The first stage was when the embryo was busy establishing itself in the uterus; a period believed by Soranus to last for forty days. This phase was followed by the curiously named Kissa or Pica, which lasted until the fourth month. The final stage was concerned with building up strength for the birth. 

Each stage had its own problems and solutions, including cures for morning sickness, recommendations for diet and exercise and helpful tips on how to avoid stretch marks.

The First Forty Days: Establishing the Embryo

The first forty days after conception were an especially sensitive time. According to Soranus, this stage was crucial to ensure the “injected seed” firmly implanted itself in the uterus. To ensure this, Soranus recommended that once conception had taken place, “one must beware of every excess and change both bodily and psychic.” (Gyn I.XIV)

Soranus advised the newly pregnant mother to avoid anything that could jolt the body and dislodge the embryo. This meant no vigorous exercise, blows to the body or even coughing. 

Soranus cautioned against “pungent” foods such as “garlic, onions, leeks, preserved meat or fish”. Instead, he prescribed light, easily digestible food to help avoid flatulence, which was potentially fatal to the vulnerable embryo (Gyn I.XIV).

Soranus even prohibited bathing for the first seven days of pregnancy because: “the bath, belonging to those things which loosen the texture of the whole body, will also help to enfeeble the delicate structure of the seed” (Gyn I.XIV).

Dealing with Morning Sickness the Roman Way

Soranus defined Kissa (more commonly known as Pica) as the time when women began to experience cravings and what we commonly refer to as morning sickness. Soranus, however, recognized that this could happen at any time of the day or night. He also believed that prolonged vomiting and rejection of food were dangerous to the pregnancy. But fortunately for roman women, Soranus had some handy hints for dealing with this debilitating period.

Many Romans believed that it was essential that an expectant mother eat for two. Soranus dismissed this, believing that an excess of food could actually harm the fetus as it essentially poisoned the body. Instead, he recommended fasting for a day after a bout of sickness to settle the stomach.

 When food was reintroduced, it needed to be light and easily digestible: “a soft boiled egg or a porridge and some not very fat fowl as well as water to drink,” was Soranus’s prescription. Once morning sickness was under control, expectant mothers were advised to eat dry foods such as should bread “to strengthen the stomach” (Gyn I. XV). 

Soranus also recommended soothing an upset stomach with rubs and poultices. The abdomen was slathered with a concoction of olive oil laced with myrtle, oil of roses, quinces, mastic, and spikenard and bound up with wool “to brace up the upset stomach” (Gyn I.XV).  

In Soranus’s opinion, persisting nausea and sickness also brought the threat of miscarriage. In such cases, the doctor advised “binding the extremities”. (Gyn I.XV)

A Boy or Girl?

To the Romans, the health and appearance of the expectant mother was an indicator of the sex of the unborn child. Soranus and Pliny the Elder record how rosy cheeks and an active baby denoted a boy, according to popular belief, while a pale mother and a sluggish fetus meant a girl ( NH 7.38-43; Gyn I.XIII).

 Avoiding Stretch Marks  

But if all was going well, between the fourth and the seventh months, women could begin to increase exercise and enjoy a more varied diet. Walking, reading aloud to exercise the voice, dancing, playing ball and rather bizarrely “punching the leather bag” were all forms of exercise recommended by Soranus (Gyn 1. XVI). 

Soranus also said that mothers-to-be could now begin to eat more food, drink a little wine, and return to their usual bathing routine. All of this was designed to strengthen the expectant mother and help her developing baby.

But by the seventh month, it was time to ease off again. This was because Soranus believed that the combined weight of the baby and any sudden movements of the mother could dislodge the child and bring on labour (Gyn I.XVI). Premature labour was a disaster at this stage of the pregnancy as premature children had little chance of survival due to the lack of neonatal care. Indeed, Pliny the Elder did not even believe a pregnancy was viable until after the seventh month (NH 7.37). Once more, caution was key.  

Soranus suggested extra support to the stomach to avoid early labour in the form of a “sling” made from a “broad linen bandage”. This wrapped under the baby bump and crossed at the shoulders before being taken round the back and then back to the front where it was fastened. At the same time, Soranus recommended anointing “the enlarged abdomen all over with a cerate containing olive oil …and myrtle” — an early remedy for stretch marks.  . (Gyn I.XVI)

Preparing for the Birth

 After the eighth month, the bandage was loosened as, according to Soranus: “parturition is probably imminent and the weight will help towards a quicker delivery”. Soranus also prescribed frequent baths in “sweet, warm water” to help mothers relax. He also suggested that they prepare their cervix and vaginal for the impending birth by bathing the areas with decoctions of linseed, fenugreek or mallow, using and to injections of olive oil and vaginal suppositories of goose fat and marrow (Gyn. I. XVI). All of this was meant to relax the body to bring on and ease the process of childbirth.

Resources 

 Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. Translated by John F Healey. (1991). Penguin Books

Soranus, Gynecology. Translated by Owsei Temkin (1991). The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore and London.