All thanks to the advancement in technology, detecting pregnancy is now no longer a head ache. But those who dwelled in ‘non-technological’ era, resorted to some of the most bizarre and unconventional ways to find out whether a woman has conceived or not. If few of those ways were pretty illogical, a few required the presence of a physician and even bought elements of ecology into play. Let’s discuss a bit about these.
1. Mindless beliefs
The leading line says it all. There were several facts prevalent in popular belief which had little or nothing to do with scientific facts. Like the ancient notion goes on to say, a woman’s belly is the best indicator of her pregnancy.
a. Ancient Egyptians made women urinate on sacks of wheat and barley. The prediction went like: a girl, if the wheat sprouted and if the barley pops up, it’s a boy. And what if neither shows any sign of sprout? That implied the woman is not pregnant. At the same time, it’s believed that a pregnant lady’s urine helps wheat and barley grow faster. (Do keep this in mind the next time when you would plunge into whole grain cereals). If you found this weird, then wait for more.
b. The Greeks had far more outlandish mode of finding out whether a woman is pregnant or not. They applied perfume linen to the genitals. According to them, her mouth and nose will emanate the perfume’s smell, if she conceived.
Again, a few medieval doctors laid much emphasis on testing urine and excreta of women. They believed a needle dipped in woman’s urine, turning red or black indicated pregnancy. Sprinkle some sulfur and if worms appear, the woman is pregnant.
2. Animals were helpful, indeed!
Medieval doctors were quite smart. They never even stopped short of experimenting with animals to detect pregnancy. Rats, rabbits even frogs had to provide a rather ‘reluctant’ assistance.
Doctors injected pregnant woman’s urine inside rats. Few days later, rats were dissected to get results. Rabbit, all of a sudden, became the most favorite animal of doctors. It was believed if the rabbit gets horny after injecting a woman’s urine, it indicated pregnancy. Perhaps, the worst pain was borne by African Clawed Frog. Reportedly, these frogs were imported even to carry out tests on them. Sounds bizarre, isn’t it?
3. Switching on to saner ways
Animals got the much needed relief when a productive output of science and consumer marketing made its way. By the end of 70s, ads of pregnancy kits appeared in magazines. The kit contained purified water, eye dropper, test tube stand along with a mirror at the bottom.
Gradually, it went on to improve with the introduction of scientific and technological mode of testing. 80s witnessed the introduction of simpler one step tests and 90s made enzyme indicators popular. Right now, we have digital screening method which is by far quite effective and delivers result within minutes. Animals can finally relax without any worry and women would no longer require to pee on wheat and barley!
