Description: This symposium will explore diverse womb-related developments from the past, present and future, investigating important ethical and socio-legal questions emerging from new and future technologies. Historically, the womb has featured in medical, social and legal debates about women. A functioning womb saved a woman from the ‘curse’ of barrenness, but also was often blamed […]
A De Partu working lunch will take place during this week’s Born Yesterday conference at the University of Nottingham. It will be held during the lunch break on Thursday 5th. An announcement will be made to confirm the venue. Non-members are welcome. Agenda:1. Welcome2. The Jean Donnison Essay Prize – planning3. Collaboration with the British […]
RCM Library and Heritage Collections: our move and temporary closure Later this year, mid-November, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will be moving to their new home in Union Street, located close to London Bridge. The RCOG’s Research and Information Services, including library, archives, rare books, museum and artworks, along with the integrated […]
‘This collection comprises primarily personal papers originally deposited at the Royal College of Midwives, now held at the RCOG. It includes case registers, pupil case books, notebooks, diaries, photographs and printed material, relating to the experiences of midwives and how childbirth has changed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.’ A very useful table of contents […]
‘There is no formal memorial to Mrs Manley’s near half-century of service to the people of Whitby. Yet her diary, a veritable gold mine for the genealogist and for the social historian, remains with us, enormously enriching our understanding of a vital aspect of a bygone age.’ (p. 34) With acknowledgements to MIDIRS, we are […]
In 1982 Chloe Fisher, who has dedicated much of her life to educating midwives and women on infant feeding and to supporting breast feeding mothers, published a historical review of modern breastfeeding ‘management’ and the origins of certain restrictive practices which prevailed for a considerable time during the twentieth century. While contemporary medical experts were advocating […]