00:00Surviving was a miracle. Childbirth in Edo period, Japan was brutal. Childbirth was considered
00:04spiritually impure, and pregnant women were isolated in a separate birthing hut, where
00:09they delivered with only a midwife by their side. Unlike today, lying down during labor
00:12was not allowed. Instead, women gripped a rope hung from the ceiling and endured the
00:16pain in a seated position, all while being expected to suffer in complete silence. Even
00:21after giving birth, women were discouraged from lying down. They were expected to remain
00:25seated for at least seven days. It was common for women to give birth for the first time
00:28while still in their teens. Many lost their lives to complications, difficult labor, severe
00:33blood loss. Childbirth was truly a matter of life and death. Infant mortality was also
00:38devastatingly high. There was even a belief that whether a child survived to age seven
00:42was entirely in the hands of fate. The placenta was highly valued as a form of medicine. It
00:46was customary for the father to bury it carefully in the earth and treat it with great reverence.
00:51And with contraception being primitive at best, some women resorted to physical methods such
00:55as applying pressure to the abdomen in desperate attempts to end a pregnancy.
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