Twilight Sleep
Doctor’s Birthing Kit, circa 1910
This mysterious kit was one of the anesthesia history artifacts collected by Bert B. Hershenson, MD, Director of Anesthesia (1942–1956) at the Boston Lying-in Hospital (a BWH parent hospital). It was donated to Harvard with no information other than it once belonged to a Viennese doctor “two generations ago.” An investigation of the objects inside indicate that the original owner was probably an obstetrician who may have been a practitioner of Dämmerschlaf or “Twilight Sleep.”
Twilight Sleep was introduced in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. A combination of morphine, to mitigate pain, and scopolamine, to cause amnesia, was given by injection to women in labor. If inexpertly administered its effectiveness in preventing pain was minimal. It caused many women to forget their labor pain, but the drug combination could also cause extreme or violent behavior.
In 1914, reports of “pain free” deliveries in Europe gave rise in the U.S. to the National Twilight Sleep Association, which successfully campaigned for the widespread adoption of the technique. However, in 1915 Mrs. Francis X. Carmody, a leader of the organization, died in childbirth. Although probably unrelated to the drugs, news of her death and subsequent safety concerns caused the rapid fall from favor of Twilight Sleep and the end of the Association.
Metal box (for easy sterilization) from Medicinisches Waarenhaus: Berlin
Esmarch type inhaler (style introduced in 1877). The wire mask covered by a cloth kept chloroform from touching the patient’s face.
Chloroform, a surgical anesthetic.
Ergotin, used to treat excessive bleeding and to speed up labor.
Camphor, traditionally used as a topical analgesic, or to control nausea.
Morphium, for pain relief.
Unidentified bottle, with the handwritten word “injection’ in German.
Dr. Vomel brand catgut, probably used for tying off the umbilical cord.