 In his 1602 account of the Gold Coast of Africa, Pieter de Marees mentions the women "who stand up after birth and go about their business, often taking to the streets just days afterwards".His book was the standard text on Africa and was translated in several languages before this painting was made.Either Ribera himself or his patron, the collector Fernando Afán de Ribera, duke of Alcalá de los Gazules, would have seen and read the book.