Plate from Viardel, 1671 (Upper Left)

Originally published in Observations sur la pratique des accouchemens naturels, contre nature, & monstrueux, avec une methode tres-facile pour secourir les femmes en toutes sortes d'accouchements, sans se servir de crochets, ni d'aucun instrument, que de la seule main... Paris, Edme Couterot; Nicolas Bessin; Francois Mauger, 1671.These images were taken while preparing a book (Wombs with a View, Springer, 2016) on the history of the illustrations and how they contributed to our understanding of anatomy and physiology of pregnancy, thereby enabling advances in the practice of obstetrics and gynecology