Antique obstetric crochet c 1840
On application
An antique obstetric crochet with an ebony handle c 1840. The hook would have been used to pull down limbs in obstructed labour. As a lifesaving procedure for the mother in the event of arrested labour or foetal death, the crochet section was also used as an instrument of destruction. It would have been inserted through a perforation in the foetal cranium (by perforator) in order to extract the obstructing head. Length 32 cm
