During the Ottoman period, pregnancy was understood by methods based on observation and experience, as medical knowledge and technology were not as developed as they are today. Pregnancy was of great importance not only for the woman’s body and health, but also for the social and economic structure of society. For this reason, various methods have been developed to accurately detect pregnancy symptoms and manage pregnancy in a healthy way.
How was pregnancy understood in the Ottoman Empire? There are different answers to the question. In general, it was used to understand whether the woman was pregnant or not by using methods known as old-fashioned pregnancy tests .
- Menstrual cycle tracking
- Physical changes (such as breast enlargement, nausea and weakness)
- Urine test
- Midwife assistance
Although there is information that pregnancy was detected by observing the effects of urine on wheat and barley in ancient Egypt, there is no definite information about the prevalence and reliability of this method. Nevertheless, it was among the methods used in research on the suspicion of pregnancy in the Ottoman Empire .
Menstrual cycle tracking is a method that has been used for centuries among pregnancy tests . Since there will be a pause in a pregnant woman’s cycle, monitoring the menstrual cycle has gained an important place in Ottoman pregnancy tests . Even today, many women suspect pregnancy after a delay in menstruation. For this reason, monitoring the menstrual cycle is the most reliable method among old-fashioned pregnancy tests .
Finger Pregnancy Test
There are many pregnancy symptoms and tests that have been used among the public for many years but have no scientific basis. One of them is the method known as
A digital pregnancy test is a method that is usually performed by touching the cervix with a finger and is based on the idea that changes in the cervix indicate pregnancy. In this method, it is claimed that changes such as softening, closing or a different consistency of the cervix are signs of pregnancy. However, these claims have no scientific basis.
Old-Fashioned Pregnancy Tests
Before modern science, people used various traditional methods to determine pregnancy. Old-fashioned pregnancy tests were often based on observations, beliefs, and herbal practices. Especially in Ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations, interesting methods were developed to understand pregnancy.
A common test used in ancient Egypt was done by pouring a woman’s urine into wheat and barley seeds. According to this method, if the seeds germinated, the woman was considered pregnant. If the barley sprouted, it was considered that she was pregnant with a boy, and if the wheat sprouted, she was pregnant with a girl.
In addition, with a method known as the “aggravation” test, inferences about pregnancy were made by looking at the general changes in the woman’s body. Although these traditional methods gave very misleading results, unlike modern pregnancy tests, they had an important place among societies.
