ABOUT THIS BOOKA history of childbirth in the eighteenth century as told by women.
This fascinating new book radically rewrites all that we know about eighteenth-century childbirth by placing women’s voices at the center of the story. Examining childbirth from the perspective of the birthing woman, this research offers new perspectives on the history of the family, the social history of medicine, community and neighborhood studies, and the study of women’s lives in eighteenth-century England.
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, community, and the lives of women in the coming age of modern medicine. It unpacks the rituals of contemporary childbirth—from foods traditionally eaten before and after birth, birthing clothing, and how a woman’s relationship with her family, husband, friends, and neighbors changed during and after pregnancy. In this important and deeply moving study, we are invited onto a detailed and emotional journey through motherhood in an age of immense socio-cultural and intellectual change.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYSarah Fox is a social and cultural historian with interests in the social histories of law and medicine, the body, emotion, gender, food, and community. She completed her PhD at the University of Manchester in 2017 and is currently working at the University of Birmingham as a research associate on the Leverhulme-funded project Material Bodies, Social Identities: Embodiment in British Letters c.1680-1820.