In modern society, there are many easy and quick ways for women to know if they are pregnant. Tools such as pregnancy tests and ultrasound can help them confirm whether they are pregnant or not. These conveniences are derived from the current advanced medical technology in our country. However, in ancient times, the level of medicine was relatively low, and how did women determine if they were pregnant?
In fact, there is a well-known method, and that is early pregnancy reaction. For example, sudden onset of retching, or a sudden change in taste, are typical symptoms of early pregnancy sickness. In ancient China, these symptoms were called "Haixi" by traditional Chinese medicine, and became an important basis for judging whether a woman is pregnant.
We can see such a plot in many movies and television works: once a woman has a gagging or loss of appetite, the people around her immediately speculate whether she is pregnant. Even young children can understand this phenomenon. However, relying on the symptoms of Hi is not very accurate in determining whether you are pregnant. For example, eating too much fatty food, which causes indigestion, can trigger similar symptoms.
In ancient times, women also used a unique way to check if they were pregnant, and that was to observe their menstrual cycles. Generally, a woman's menstrual cycle is about 28 days, and if you don't have a period for a long time, this is called menopause. Menopause is basically a way to tell if a woman is pregnant, however, this method is not very accurate for those women who have irregular periods.
In fact, the most reliable way is to take the pulse. Pulse control is the most scientific and commonly used diagnostic method in ancient China. In ancient China, the only means for people to get sick was traditional Chinese medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine paid attention to looking, hearing, and inquiring. Women who are pregnant have a very different pulse than ordinary women, and they have a special pulse called the happy pulse. The doctor will take the pulse to determine whether a woman is pregnant.
However, this method requires a high level of skill and experience on the part of the doctor. First of all, a TCM doctor who takes the pulse must have superb skills and rich experience. In addition, women will also have a slippery pulse during menstruation or when they are about to menstruate, but it is not as obvious as when they are pregnant, so the requirements for doctors to take the pulse are very high, and there may be misdiagnosis.
After talking about China's inspection and transportation methods, it is more interesting to take a look at foreign ones.
Dating back to the middle of the 13th century BC in ancient Egypt, the first means of pregnancy testing were born. In those distant times, a special way was used to test whether a woman was pregnant and the sex of the fetus. According to ancient Egyptian texts, women suspected of being pregnant were made to urinate on barley seeds and wheat seeds. If a woman becomes pregnant, the seed will sprout. The germination of wheat seeds means that a girl is conceived, and the germination of barley seeds means that a boy is conceived.
Until the 60s of the 19th century, scientists conducted systematic scientific experiments on this method and found that estrogen in the urine of pregnant women does make the seeds itch. Surprisingly, this method of pregnancy test is as accurate as 70%. However, there is no scientific basis for using this method to determine the sex of the fetus.
A special method of pregnancy testing was practiced in ancient Greece. At that time, if women suspected that they were pregnant, they would put objects with a pungent smell, such as garlic or onions, before going to bed. When they wake up the next morning, they check their mouths for bad breath. If there is no bad smell in the mouth, it means that they are pregnant.
And in medieval Europe, people judged whether a woman was pregnant by looking at the color and even the taste of urine. They found that the urine of pregnant women was significantly different from that of normal people. After pregnancy, a woman's urine is darker in color and smells stronger. However, this method has a high rate of misdiagnosis because other aspects of the body can also affect urine quality.
In ancient times, the inspection methods of China and the West are the experience summed up by people in their long-term life, but there are big errors, and the accuracy is not too high