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Giving Birth in Eighteenth-Century England

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13 April 2022

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.

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

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