“All The World Loves A Baby”
Dr. Martin Couney opened a baby incubator exhibit in 1903 at Cooney Island’s newest seaside attraction, Luna Park. He hired several nurses and two doctors to lived onsite. These men and women were tasked with implementing the medical treatments. There were two wet nurses also on site who provided breastmilk when mothers could not. Additionally, Couney hired a cook to ensure that the best nutrition was getting to his staff and the babies. He also had janitors to ensure the entire facility was as sanitary as it could possibly be. Then, in what some considered to be controversial, he dressed the small babies into regular newborn-sized clothing to accentuated the smallness of his charges.
Visitors to the display paid 25 cents to view the incubator babies. Once inside, they observed the technologically advanced incubators with tiny infants inside. To ensure a zealous visitor did not get too close, a guard rail kept the public back. Critics claimed that Dr. Couney was merely a publicity-seeking man trying to make a fast buck at the expense of the small infants. The admission fee was used to pay for the medical care so that the parents would not have to.
Most of the parents that agreed to place their children display with Dr. Couney could not afford the medical costs associated with caring for a sick infant in a hospital. The ones that did have neonatal care required extensive staffing of highly trained medical staff, as well as uninterrupted electricity to power the equipment. This care could cost hundreds of dollars during the early decades of the 20th century. During a time when families were lucky to earn $5 per week, the cost was simply probative. Parents were desperate to save their newborns.
In a New York hospital in 1920, Mrs. Horn gave birth to twin girls. Shortly after a premature birth, the first twin died. Mr. Horn refused to give up on his two-pound girl. He took his daughter, wrapped her in a blanket, hailed a taxi, and set off for Coney Island. Once there, his daughter, Lucille, was placed into an incubator. Over the next six months the little girl received medical treatment and grew well and strong. As an adult, Lucille was asked how she felt being placed on display. She responded, “It’s strange, but as long as they saw me and I was alive, it was all right.” She returned to Coney Island’s incubator display as a young adult. While there, she watched a distraught father looking at his small infant. Dr. Couney tapped the man on the shoulder and stated, “Look at this young lady. She’s one of our babies.” Lucile Horn lived to be 96 years old, dying in 2017.
Dr. Couney’s baby incubator exhibit was one of Coney Island’s most popular exhibits. From 1903 to 1943, he had cared for over 8,000 preemies with 6,500 surviving. Just before his death in 1950, American hospitals began implementing the neonatal incubator because of Dr. Couney’s proven success rate at his Coney Island freak show. In 1960, America’s first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) opened at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Martin Couney is credited with major advancements in neonatal technology.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Premature Babies Used to Be Put On Display At Hospitals Like Freak Shows,” Ranker.
“How One Man Saved A Generation of Premature Babies,” BBB Magazine, May 23, 2018.