Home Birth

Amulet, The Lost Shtetl Museum Collection.

When the life of pregnant Yafa Fisher came into danger, the entire Šeduva Jewish community began to talk. The woman should have gone right to the hospital, they said, but the impoverished Fisher family couldn't afford it. Back then, in the first years of Lithuanian independence, the majority of Šeduva residents lived in poverty, so her fellow residents weren't able to help her either. "The matters are very grave," the Šeduva rabbi said, asking for help from the better-off residents of Panevėžys.

Šeduvites did their best to protect themselves from misfortune. Some made use of amulets. They believed the amulets contained all sorts of powers: some made life better, others overcame illness and protected the woman in labor and her child.

The museum has in its collection an amulet that was to be hung around a baby’s neck. The amulet has an inscription in Hebrew: "May this child rise to Torah, marriage, and good deeds."

Whether Yafa survived giving birth, we do not know. We hope she had enough energy and support to regain her health and raise her baby.