The following new publications will soon be available for review: — The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy: A History of Miscarriage in America by Lara Freidenfelds (Oxford University Press, 2020) — Midwifery from the Tudors to the Twenty-First Century: History, Politics and Safe Practice in England, by Julia Allison (Routledge, 2020) NB the latter is […]
Read moreAuthor Archives: Janette Allotey
History of childbirth event at the Foundling Museum – POSTPONED
We are very sorry indeed, but in view of the very sensible concerns of a number of delegates and the rapidly evolving public health warnings about the coronavirus, we have this morning taken the decision to postpone our study day at the Foundling Museum in London scheduled for Saturday March 14th. We’re aware that our […]
Read moreBook review needed
We are seeking from among our membership a reviewer for this book, which is being published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name at the Foundling Museum in London. The review will be published on the websites both of De Partu and of the British Society for the History of Medicine. Please email […]
Read moreRoyal College of Midwives – Special collections
‘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 […]
Read moreDe-medicalisation of breast feeding …
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 […]
Read moreOnly 10 places left for in Sickness and in Health – the BSHM event in September…
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-sickness-and-in-health-exploring-medical-history-collections-tickets-45744263323
Read moreTwo new book reviews
Catherine M Morrison (2017) Hebridean heroines: twentieth-century Queen’s Nurses (1940s-1970s) (reviewed by Dr Alison Nuttall), and Jennifer Evans and Sara Read (2017) Maladies and medicine: exploring health and healing 1540-1740 (reviewed by Carole McGlone).
Read moreNew image gallery for the De Partu website: launch of an appeal for images of midwives’ badges
Wouldn’t it be timely to compile a gallery of as many former midwifery ‘training’ school badges as possible, before they are lost? Former schools of midwifery often produced their own badges, sometimes with interesting coats of arms or mottos on them. We have made a start with this: members can view them in our image […]
Read moreVictorian values: an image of the Virgin Mary bottle feeding!
York Minster Nave: Nativity boss (1840) York Minster was built between 1220 and 1472 and is one of the great Gothic cathedrals of England and Europe. In the course of the last two centuries, it has suffered three catastrophic fires with the second, in 1840, destroying the roof of the nave. The nave roof is […]
Read moreMidwifery records of Midwife Booth of Salford
Midwife Booth, a Salford midwife, attended over 4,225 cases (1864-1879). Ellen Booth practised in the environs of Salford during the nineteenth century. Data provided in this register suggests that she attended over 4,225 births between 1864 and July 1879. From the figures listed in the front of the book, her birth attendances were lowest in […]
Read moreDe Partu event at York 26th-27th May 2017 – call for papers
De Partu history of childbirth event May 26th-27th 2017: Call for papers Non-members welcome
Read moreWillughby on midwives…
‘I desire that all midwives may gain a good repute, and have a happy successe in all their undertakings: and that their knowledge, charity, and patience, with tender compassion, may manifest their worths among their women, and give their women just cause to love, honour, and to esteem them.’ Percivall Willughby (1596-1685) Willughby, P., […]
Read moreJean Donnison (1925-2017)
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Dr Jean Donnison on January 27th, after a long period of declining health during which she bravely continued to work and publish. Jean will be known to many members for the significant contributions that she made to midwifery history, in particular her classic work […]
Read moreEthelred the Unready’s gift to parturient women: an agate touch-stone said to ease childbirth
Read here the full version of Professor Michael Swanton’s article: Ethelred the Unready’s gift to parturient women: an agate touch-stone said to ease childbirth Professor Swanton is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Exeter.
Read moreCall the Midwife : The Casebook – Sunday BBC1 at 5.05pm
Janette Allotey, Stephen McGann and Clare Lewins at John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester This programme, which includes clips from Call the Midwife, looks at some of the real stories and characters, and goes behind the scenes to look at the ‘mechanics’ of birth with Terri Coates.
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