The 'Alcove'

The ‘alcove’ or birthing room is set in a quiet spot of the house and close to the kitchen where servants kept warm water available till labour was over. It also served as the last resting place for the corpses of the departed prior to burial. A window at the birthing room was closed when the property adjacent to the house was built and the room divided in two rooms.

A window similar to those of the central staircase existed on the wall opposite the ‘alcove’ but once a window was opened at the upper storey, it was blocked and another opened next to the corner to prevent the males and the children sent upstairs during labour from seeing what was happening: birth.

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