'Incubator Doctor' - Benefactor of premature babies

Known as the 'Incubator Doctor', Martin Couney was a controversial figure in the early 20th century. But today, he is recognized as a hero who saved the lives of thousands of premature babies. .

Using an incubator to save babies

If you ever visited New York's Coney Island in the 1930s, you'd see the sights and enjoy roaming under a sunny sky, all for the price of 10 cents. But if one ventures further on the boardwalk, for an extra 25 cents one can see Martin Couney and the babies in his incubator.

Babies in an incubator were exhibited in 1934 in New York, USA.

They are premature babies lined up, some weighing as little as 0.5kg, fighting for their lives. At that time, Martin Couney not only saved thousands of lives, but also caused the world to change the way newborns and premature babies are cared for.

Martin Couney , born Michael Cohn , was born in Krotoszyn, Poland in 1869. Little is known about his life before he immigrated to the United States in 1888. This is also because he changed his life. changed details of his past to fit the popular narrative like many other entertainers at the time.

He said he obtained his medical degree in Europe, after studying medicine in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. But historians today agree that Couney was not, in fact, a trained physician. That's because he was too young to attend university, before emigrating from Europe at the age of 19.

Couney claims to have been led by doctor Pierre-Constant Budin, considered the founder of modern neonatal medicine. Budin's groundbreaking research on concepts such as cord blood, the benefits of breastfeeding, and perinatal care have all been credited with significantly improving the quality of life and life expectancy of both newborns and infants. mothers in the early 20th century in France.

Couney also says that he was Budin's middleman at the Great Berlin Industrial Exhibition of 1896, which exhibited Budin 's 'baby's quarters' . Most likely, Couney was a medical device technician at the show with Budin, if the two really knew each other.

Budin's 'incubator' has been used for chickens on farms, but has never been used on humans. Budin exhibited it in 1897 at Queen Victoria's 60th Reign Celebration; in 1898 at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska; and in 1901 at the Buffalo Pan American Exposition, New York.

Although the timing is uncertain, it is possible that before 1907 Couney had successfully used an incubator to save premature babies, even saving his own daughter. In 1903, Martin Couney married a nurse named Annabelle Maye. Four years later, Annabelle gave birth six weeks early to a daughter named Hildegarde, who weighed only 1.3kg.

Martin Couney and Dr. Pierre - Constant Budin (right), are considered the fathers of today's infant incubators.

Lifesaver station at the amusement park

In the early 1900s, premature babies were as common as they are today, but little medical care was available to them. As a result, up to three out of four premature babies do not survive.

But even as incubators have been exhibited throughout the United States, doctors are still hesitant about the idea because their effects on humans have not been studied in a scientific setting. Couney, now with his exhibition experience, decided to try another way.

The children needed to be saved and he had to do something, even if not in the usual way. In 1903, Couney set up two operations at Coney Island's two main amusement parks, one in Luna Park and the other in nearby Dreamland.

Miraculously, though, Dreamland burned down in May 1911, just before opening day, but all the babies in the incubator were saved.

The show of premature babies was moved to Luna Park and lasted for 40 years. Proceeds will fund both the care of the newborn and the maintenance of the 'baby incubator'.

By the time Couney closed his Luna Park exhibit, there were about 8,000 babies in his care. Of these, he saved the lives of more than 6,500 grandchildren - including his beloved daughter, Hildegarde, in 1907 - giving Couney a success rate of more than 85%.

One of the premature babies saved at the time was Lucille Horn. Born in 1920, she and her twin were born prematurely and weighed only 1kg at birth. Her brother died shortly after she was born, and without Couney's help, Horn might not have survived.

She said in an interview with Storycorps in 2015: 'They didn't have any help for me at all. You will simply die because you are not of this world'.

By the 1940s, the medical community finally took the concept of 'baby incubators' seriously and began to include them in their neonatal care in the hospital. And Martin Couney closed his activism program in 1943. He died in 1950.

After the 'baby incubator' - now known as an incubator - was fully accepted, additional advances were also developed to perfect the care of infants in the United States. Such as: 'Kangaroo Care' - parent-baby bond - and advanced sterilization techniques.

Today, although one in 10 babies is born premature in the United States, their chances of survival are higher than ever thanks to Couney's 'baby incubators'.