page_title: Martin A. Couney
section_title: The 'Infantorium'
hierarchical_section_title: Martin A. Couney / The 'Infantorium'
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: "The Daily Bath." (Nurse bathing an infant in the Baby Incubator exhibit on the Pike at the 1904 World's Fair).
context_page_description: Martin Arthur Couney was a Polish advocate and pioneer of early neonatal technology. Couney, also known as the ‘Incubator Doctor’, was best known in medical circles and public view for his amusement park sideshow, “The Infantorium”, in which visitors paid 25 cents to view prematurely-born babies displayed in incubators. After allegedly apprenticing under Dr Pierre-Constant Budin, an established French obstetrician in the 1890s, Couney began exhibiting incubators at expositions and fairgrounds around In Europe, and then America. Couney is best-known for his Infantorium at Coney Island, New York. During Couney’s active years at fairgrounds across America, it was widely believed that premature babies were ‘weaklings’, who were unfit to survive into adulthood. Couney was one of the first advocates for premature babies, and his Infantoriums have become widely accredited with saving the lives of over 6,500 premature babies. Couney is additionally recognised as one of the first pioneers of neonatological technology.
context_section_description: Couney’s shows varied in name from fairground to fairground, including the ‘Infantorium’ and ‘Baby Incubators’. Couney’s slogan was ‘All the world loves a baby’ and he encouraged nurses to take the babies out and cuddle them in front of audiences.  The babies were placed in incubators with glass doors to allow visitors to see in and contained warm, filtered air. At the Coney Island ‘Infantorium’, Couney worked in tandem with established doctor, Dr Julius Hess and he employed a team of nurses who lived onsite, taking care of the premature infants at all hours. Dr Couney is usually remembered for his Coney Island facility, but he also established a similar exhibit in Atlantic city which ran for 38 years, from 1905 to 1943. Couney’s facilities were known for their professionalism and cleanliness. Couney was influenced by one of his employed nurses, and later wife, Annabelle Maye who insisted upon the importance of strict hygiene and systematic procedure.
  In 1903, the average cost for the care of one infant at Couney’s facility was $15 ($405 today). The care costs of premature babies was expensive, however, Couney did not charge the parents of his patients for their care. Couney made up the costs of caring for the infants through the entrance fees during the exhibitions. The entrance fees covered not only the care of the infants, but also allowed Couney to pay his nurses a good wage and facilitated the frequent travel of the exhibit.
caption: Nurse bathing an infant in the Baby Incubator exhibit
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