This Wooden Model is considered the second generation of a "Madame Du Coudray's Baby machine", a dummy for teaching obstetrics, invented in the 18th C by a midwife determined to combat country midwives' ignorance endangering the lives of women and children. Madame Du Coudray spent twenty-five years travelling the towns and cities of France, teaching her methods, and selling her ingenious "Baby machine". Only one example of the original machine, patented in 1778, survived and is on display in the museum of Flaubert and the History of Medicine in Rouen. It includes a life-size mannequin representing the lower part of the female body, a doll the size of a new-born baby, and various accessories demonstrating female anatomy, a seven-months foetus, twins, etc.

During the first half of the 19th C, the Parisian Manufacturer Mathieu introduced the wooden version. Because of its weight and rigidity, it was soon replaced by Dr. Auzoux's Papier Mâché Models. From the start of the 20th C. schools started to use plastic models.