
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.

7,697 Listeners

1,063 Listeners

5,541 Listeners

1,797 Listeners

1,881 Listeners

1,763 Listeners

1,036 Listeners

2,102 Listeners

1,922 Listeners

485 Listeners

2,015 Listeners

498 Listeners

576 Listeners

110 Listeners

48 Listeners

308 Listeners

843 Listeners

82 Listeners

53 Listeners

3,167 Listeners

1,003 Listeners

112 Listeners

120 Listeners

41 Listeners

50 Listeners