Beschreibung:
This book reconstructs the history of conception, pregnancy and childbirth in Europe from antiquity to the Twentieth century, focusing on its most significant turning points. It explores a history, that far from being linear, progressive or homogeneous, is characterised by significant continuities as well as transformations.
Introduction; Part I: Cultural representations; 1. Gender dichotomies; Part II: Giving birth and being born from antiquity to the 18th century; 2. Pregnancy; 3. Childbirth; 4. Birth and post-natal period; 5. Social birth; 6. The midwife; Part III: The 18th-century juncture; 7. The institutionalisation of midwives; 8. Man-midwives on the childbirth scene; 9. Lying-in hospitals; 10. The "foetus-as-citizen"; Part IV: The contemporary age; 11. The many revolutions of the 20th century; Bibliography; Index