Engraving of Auvard Incubator. Pierre-Victor-Adolphe Auvard (1855-1941) was a French obstetrician and gynecologist. During the 1880s he introduced the "Auvard couveuse", an inexpensive incubator that became widely popular in the latter part of the 19th century. An incubator an enclosed boxlike apparatus for housing prematurely born babies under optimum conditions (controlled temperature, humidity and oxygen concentration) until they are strong enough to survive in the normal environment.