Foetal stethoscope, monaural, wood, c.1880

Monaural means one ear. This monaural stethoscope listened to the sounds of a foetus in the womb. The physician’s ear is placed at the large disc. The other end is placed on the pregnant woman’s abdomen. The wooden tube is hollow so sounds heard in the ball end travel to the user. The monaural stethoscope was slowly replaced in general practise in the late 1800s by the binaural stethoscope. It continued to be used for maternity care.