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This fascinating new book radically rewrites all that we know about eighteenth-century childbirth by placing women’s voices at the centre of the story. From quickening through to confinement, giving caudle, delivery and lying-in, birth was once a complex ritual that involved entire communities. Drawing on an extensive and under-researched body of materials, such as letters, diaries and recipe books, this book offers critical new perspectives on the history of the family and community. It explores the rituals of childbirth, from birthing clothing to the foods traditionally eaten before and after birth, and also how a woman’s relationship with her family, husband, friends and neighbours changed during pregnancy and beyond. In this important and deeply moving study, we are invited on a detailed and emotive journey through motherhood in an age of immense intellectual and sociocultural change.
'Giving Birth draws together personal literature, folklore collections, and court records to masterfully articulate that childbirth opens a window onto the everyday family and community interactions, obligations, and bonds of later eighteenth century society. The book significantly nuances and updates the existing historiography on the topic of birthing rituals in the early modern era. Fox is to be commended on producing a book that is engaging and accessible, one that will appeal to students whilst becoming a cornerstone of research on the social history of reproduction.'
Jennifer Evans, School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK
Introduction
Birth and the Body
Birth in the Household
Food and Birth
The Birth Family
Birth in the Community
Conclusion