Giving Birth in Eighteenth-Century England

by Sarah Fox

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 body of materials, such as letters, diaries and recipe books, the volume explores the rituals of childbirth as well as how motherhood affected a woman’s relationships with those closest to her and with her community.

Background image: A mother in bed after having given birth; the midwife showing the baby to the father. Coloured stipple engraving, ca. 1800. Credit: Wellcome Collection.

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