16 Medical Procedures and Devices from the Early 1900s that are Straight Out of a Nightmare

16. The Cranioclast

Looks like a harmless pair of salad tongs, doesn’t it? But harmless it isn’t. In the latter part of the 19th Century, complicated births often resulted in the deaths of mother and child. This was especially true if the baby was too large to pass through the mother’s pelvis. To save the mother’s life, instruments like the cranioclast needed to be used to remove a fetus in such cases. Developed by Dr. James Simpson in the mid-nineteenth century, the cranioclast crushed a fetus’s skull, making it easier to remove. It may seem gruesome, but maternal deaths weren’t uncommon. Even as late as 1915, 70 women died for every 10,000 births. That rate has since dropped to one woman for every 10,000 births.

The instrument consisted of a very strong pair of forceps with heavy blades that could be pulled together through the use of a wingnut clamp. The purpose of crushing the skull was to make it easier for the fetus to pass through the birth canal, and sometimes normal uterine contractions would take over after that. And sometimes not. In these cases, a physician would have to pull the fetus out with an obstetrical hook.

So yes, the cranioclast was gruesome, but like nearly all of these medical devices proved crucial and led to some pretty astonishing developments in medicine, improving the lives of millions of people.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

Medical Devices From The Early 1900s Were Absolutely Terrifying — Amanda Sedlak Hevener, Ranker

1907: The First Mechanical Ventilator: The Pulmotor, John Bottrell, Asthma History

A Hundred Years Of Ventilation, HealthcareInEurope.com

Freckles Frozen Off With Dry Ice (Feb. 1933) Modern Mechanix

SkinCareGuide: 7 Best Ways To Get Rid Of Freckles

Wiping Out Polio: How The U.S. Snuffed Out A Killer

What Ever Happened To Polio? The Iron Lung And Other Equipment. Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Electroretinography, MedicineNet, John Sheppard, M.D.

Usher Syndrome, MedicineNet

Having An Electroretinogram, Moorfield’s Eye Hospital

Electroretinogram, American Academy of Ophthalmology, EyeWiki