Man-midwives of the 18th century used "a wooden statue representing a woman with child, whose belly was of leather, in which a bladder, full perhaps, of small beer, represented the uterus. This bladder was stopped with a cork, to which was fastened a string of packthread to tap it, occasionally and demonstrate in a palpable manner the flowing of the red-coloured waters. In short, in the middle of the bladder was a wax doll, to which were given various positions."

From Elizabeth Nihell, A Treatise on the Art of Midwifery (London, A. Morley) 1760

Cited in Roberta McGrath, Seeing her Sex: Medical Archives and the Female Body