In Babies and more we have noticed some models of pregnant dolls that breastfeed their babies, the one we bring today is special because it goes back some time ago ... It is a 19th century pregnant doll, of Japanese origin.
Although it is believed that these types of dolls were created primarily to teach midwives how to help give birth to babies, it seems that they were also used for entertainment purposes. There is evidence that in the second half of the nineteenth century, in 1864, a popular spectacle was held in Tokyo that educated the public about the human body.
In the absence of PowerPoint presentations, videos or animations, this was a fairly graphic method, also in 3-D.
The dolls they illustrated the birth process. The doll, whose abdomen can be "dismantled", can be attached different models of dolls that represent the fetus in several stages. These shows that sought to satisfy the curiosity of the attendees revealing "secrets" of anatomy could go back even to the XVIII.
Also in Japan at the end of the 19th century, it is known that a doctor used these dolls to illustrate prenatal development, from the embryo to birth. The material in which they are made looks like wood or some resin, and as we see they are articulated.
These pieces are exhibited in different museums in Tokyo, without a doubt they are very special pieces. As we see, to the pregnant doll It does not lack detail, it even has stretch marks marked on the belly. The truth is that I find it a bit macabre, with that expressionlessness ...
