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Giving Birth in Eighteenth-Century England

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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. Utilising an extensive and under-researched b...
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  • 13 April 2022
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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.

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Price: £25.00
Publisher: University of London
Imprint: University of London Press
Series: New Historical Perspectives
Publication Date: 13 April 2022
ISBN: 9781914477089
Format: eBook
BISACs:

HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Georgian Era, History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Abortion & Birth Control, HISTORY / Modern / 18th Century, Ethical issues: abortion and birth control

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Fox’s study is a timely and most welcome intervention. ... Her conclusions cut across many fields (women’s history, midwifery and obstetrical history, and social and family history) and resonate powerfully at a moment when legal wrangling around the experience and support of pregnant and birthing people is so prevalent in the U.S. ... This is an accessible—in multiple senses including most notably that it is open-access—and engaging book. Specialist and generalist readers alike will find it valuable, while its content and methodology lend themselves well to use in classrooms.

Chelsea Phillips, Associate Director for Villanova Theatre, Villanova University, USA

Introduction

Birth and the Body

Birth in the Household

Food and Birth

The Birth Family

Birth in the Community

Conclusion