Dr. Couney’s Incubator Babies Alive and Well (Audio)

At the turn of the 20th century premature birth was the leading cause of infant mortality. A premature baby had a very slim chance of survival, unless the baby was under the care of Seagate resident Dr. Martin Couney.

The French born and German raised immigrant Couney, debuted his incubator for premature babies at the Berlin Exposition of 1896, then later at Coney Island’s Luna Park and Dreamland, where it was the most popular exhibit. Modern medicine frowned upon Dr. Couney’s advances; however, his success rate was undeniable. A premature baby had a 80% success rate of surviving under his care at no cost to the parents.

In January of this year we posted the obituary of Jean Appleton, an incubator baby and Dr. Couney success story. We asked any known surviving incubator babies to contact us at the blog. Since January we have been contacted by quite a few, including a lady named Rita, who was born May 11, 1932.

Yesterday we were contacted by the non-profit news radio station NPR.  They didn’t send us a tote bag but rather something even more valuable.

95 year old Lucille Horn, a Couney Incubator Baby who was born 2 pounds, is alive and well! Lucille was interviewed recently when she visited StoryCorps in Long Island with her daughter.

Thank you NPR for sharing this with the Coney Island Blog. 

Please listen to this wonderful story!