The birth of monsters in the Maltese Islands in the 17th and 18th centuries

Ideas about the congenital malformations are related to the mythological, moral and religious concepts. In this article the author draws attention to two manuscript descriptions of deformed neonates by a midwife and by a physician in 1630 and 1788 respectively. These manuscripts are the earliest accounts of the births of teratogenic babies known to have been recorded in the Maltese Islands. Furthermore, they provide insight into the ecclesiastical requirements of the time regulating church burial for the deformed neonates.peer-reviewe