The iconography of delivery

The history of midwifery is rooted in the most remote of times. For centuries, women were attended by other women, both with deliveries and other healthcare needs. The figure of the midwife appears in very ancient texts, like the Bible, as a well-established profession. Although there are not many written accounts of deliveries by midwives, there is an abundant iconography. Practically all the iconography of delivery shows the reality of a woman giving birth surrounded by other women: the midwife and her trusted women.

The painting which opens this exhibition, a work by Matthijs Naiveu (1647-1726), and titled The Newborn Baby, has its own story and many points in common with other pictures of deliveries. It portrays the birth of the second son of Ida María Cromhout and Adrien Roest van Alkemade, whom she married at the age of 20. The baby, who was named Adrianus was christened on December 23 1674. The midwife, who holds the newborn baby in her arms, wears expensive clothes, an indication of the family´s prestige. As in many other paintings of postpartums, the recent mother is lying in bed receiving food, probably chicken soup, from another woman.

In a mirror behind the cot and to the midwife´s left we see a scene of celebration. A group of men sit round a table drinking and smoking. Adrien Roest, the baby´s father is standing up receiving a large glass from a woman. This fact may indicate that men were much more involved in the delivery than we think.