
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


At Coney Island amusement park between 1903 and 1943 there was an extraordinary exhibit: tiny, premature babies. 'Dr. Martin Couney's infant incubator' facility was staffed by nurses in starched white uniforms and if you paid a quarter, you could see the babies in their incubators.
Journalist Claire Prentice has been following the story and tracked down some of those babies, now in their 70s, 80s and 90s, who were put on show. She discovers how Dr. Couney brought the incubator to prominence in the USA through World's Fairs and amusement parks, and explores how a man who was shunned by the medical establishment changed attitudes to premature babies and saved countless lives.
Producer Mark Rickards.
By BBC Radio 44.3
257257 ratings
At Coney Island amusement park between 1903 and 1943 there was an extraordinary exhibit: tiny, premature babies. 'Dr. Martin Couney's infant incubator' facility was staffed by nurses in starched white uniforms and if you paid a quarter, you could see the babies in their incubators.
Journalist Claire Prentice has been following the story and tracked down some of those babies, now in their 70s, 80s and 90s, who were put on show. She discovers how Dr. Couney brought the incubator to prominence in the USA through World's Fairs and amusement parks, and explores how a man who was shunned by the medical establishment changed attitudes to premature babies and saved countless lives.
Producer Mark Rickards.

7,589 Listeners

1,051 Listeners

5,470 Listeners

1,801 Listeners

1,880 Listeners

1,766 Listeners

1,043 Listeners

2,118 Listeners

2,090 Listeners

489 Listeners

1,990 Listeners

479 Listeners

591 Listeners

106 Listeners

44 Listeners

297 Listeners

851 Listeners

67 Listeners

46 Listeners

3,184 Listeners

1,015 Listeners

103 Listeners

81 Listeners

49 Listeners

45 Listeners