Reviews of the following titles are now available on the Book Reviews page:
Lara Freidenfels (2020)
The myth of the perfect pregnancy: A history of miscarriage in America
Anja Katharina Peters (2020)
Nanna Conti (1881-1951): Eine Biographie der Reichshebammenführerin
[English abstract]
Karen Harvey (2020)
The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England
Karen Hearn (2020)
Portraying Pregnancy: from Holbein to Social Media
A report of the symposium Aiding Upright Births Throughout History, held in Newark on 28th February 2020.
Library Viewing Room, 2nd Floor, Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London
For all events, doors open at 17.15, seminars start promptly at 17.30
For all enquiries, email: ResearchDevelopmentTeam@wellcome.ac.uk
For more details of events, see: https://wellcomecollection.org/event-series
Tuesday 3rd March 2020:
Title: Surrogacy as reproductive labour
Speaker: Dr Sigrid Vertommen is a research fellow at the Department of Conflict and Development Studies at Ghent University, and an affiliated scholar at the Sociology of Reproduction Research Group of the University of Cambridge.
Talk: Dr Vertommen will explore the porous boundaries between gift-commodity, motherhood-work, altruism-profit in the fertility industry.
Tuesday 17th March 2020:
Title: ‘Do NOT Flush Feminine Waste’: The History of the UK Sanitary Bin’
Speaker: Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews.
Talk: Dr Røstvik will examine the incinerators that led to calls for better menstrual waste management in the 1940s, the growth of the bin cleaning system in the 1960s, and the industry’s intersection with environmental and menstrual activism in the late-twentieth century.
This fantastic event takes place from 10am until 4pm and includes free entry to the Museum, free entry to the ‘Portraying Pregnancy …’ exhibition and a presentation by its curator Professor Karen Hearn, who is the author of an accompanying book, plus a programme of lectures. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Note to lecturers and students: a limited number of student places are available at a reduced cost.
Following the symposium there will be a FREE creative writing workshop focussing on an historical object: book via Eventbrite.
This exhibition is being curated by Professor Karen Hearn of University College London, who has written a new book to accompany it: Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media (Paul Holberton Publishing).
This two day symposium is being organised by the Scottish Society
of the History of Medicine, in association with the British Society for
the History of Medicine and the History Society of the Royal Society
of Medicine. The aim is to explore the development of anatomy
teaching from the earliest times to the present day.
Presentations will cover the ways in which anatomical knowledge has
been acquired, portrayed and taught. We will examine the evolution
of techniques used in the teaching of anatomy through the ages and
its relevance not only to surgery and medicine, but also to art and
society in general.
The programme includes keynote lectures, invited speakers and short
papers. We welcome short papers from a range of perspectives
including historical, social, cultural and modern innovations.
Discover research collections at this free one-day event designed for history students, researchers and writers, run by the Institute of Historical Research:
The day includes a history fair showcasing over 50 libraries, archives and other historical organisations, offering one on-one advice on your research.
Book now at www.history.ac.uk/historyday
19 November 2019, 10:00am – 4:00pm
Beveridge Hall, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
Contact ihr.events@sas.ac.uk
020 7862 8740
From abortion to climate crisis, intimate experiences to planetary policy, reproduction presents urgent challenges today. This debate invites participants to stand back and take a long view.
The panellists, including the editors of the field-defining synthesis, Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present Day (Cambridge, 2018), will lead a discussion of when, how and for what purposes reproduction as we know it was made.
At one extreme, we could give reproduction a history that goes back to the evolution of life on earth. At the other, we might highlight the major changes of the decades after World War II, such as the pill and in vitro fertilization. But strong cases can be made for periods in between—for ancient Greek philosophers, medieval priests, Enlightenment savants and Malthusian couples—and this event will also consider their claims.
Panel: Rebecca Flemming, Susan Golombok, Nick Hopwood and Lauren Kassell
Chair: Jim Secord
Thursday 17 October: 6:00pm–7:30pm
St John’s College Fisher Building, St John’s Street, Cambridge CB2 1TP
Entry is free, but you have to book.
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 for women’s erratic behaviour and used to deny women many opportunities and legal rights. What can we learn from women’s ‘hystories’? Today, attempts are repeatedly made to police pregnancy, interfering with women’s rights on the grounds of fetal health, as the womb is treated as a conflict zone for public health. The womb also is a focus of reproductive futures. Until recently, pregnancy was only possible for a woman born with a healthy womb, but science is facilitating exciting possibilities for gestation such as artificial wombs. Will the womb become a non-binary reproductive organ?
Schedule:
These and other exciting questions will be addressed through three diverse sessions, each encompassing two or three prepared talks followed by a panel discussion.
9.30 – 10: Arrival and Coffee
10 – 10.15: Welcome and Introductions
10.15 – 12: Reflecting on women’s hystories: ‘wandering wombs’ in science and society (Session 1)
12 – 12.30: Coffee Break
12.30 – 2.15: Exploring reproductive autonomy: the womb and evolving attitudes, rights and responsibilities (Session 2)
2.15 – 3: Lunch
3 – 4.30: Speculating about reproductive futures: partial ectogenesis and
de-gendering reproduction (Session 3)
4.30 – 5: Close
5 – 6: Wine Reception
Confirmed speakers:
Session 1: Professor Margaret Brazier (University of Manchester), Dr Sarah Fox (University of Manchester) and Caroline Henaghan (University of Manchester)
Session 2: Professor Stephen Wilkinson (Lancaster University), Dr Nicola Williams (Lancaster University) and Dunja Begovic (University of Manchester)
Session 3: Professor Emily Jackson (London School of Economics) and Elizabeth Chloe Romanis (University of Manchester)
Confirmed panellists:
Dr Amel Alghrani (University of Liverpool), Professor Rebecca Bennett (University of Manchester), Professor Susan Bewley (King’s College London), Catherine Bowden (University of Manchester), Professor Emma Cave (Durham University), Dr Alexandra Mullock (University of Manchester), Laura O’Donovan (Lancaster University)
Mon, 4 November 2019
09:30 – 17:00 GMT
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
Admission free – register via Eventbrite
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. Welcome
2. The Jean Donnison Essay Prize – planning
3. Collaboration with the British Society for the History of Medicine on a proposed project, ‘History of Health Scholar’
4. Discussion of a proposal for the website content to become entirely open access
5. Review of newsletter – to continue or not?
6. Treasurer’s report
7. AOB
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 library and heritage collection of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will be packed and moved to Union Street, before the College re-opens mid-November.
The Reading Room (library), located next to the reception area in the RCOG’s current building at Sussex Place, will be temporarily closing on Monday 19 August, in preparation for this move.
Whilst the Reading Room is closed, we will continue to respond to email enquiries. Access to eBooks, e-journals and other e- resource will also be available throughout this time. A limited document delivery service will be available.
Access to the Archives will continue as much as possible, by appointment only.
The Museum is now closed to tours and will reopen in Spring 2020.
Please note it may take longer to respond to enquiries during this time.
Please see Our New Home website for further details.
Coming home: how midwives changed birth, by Wendy Kline (Oxford University Press, 2019) is reviewed by Professor Rosemary Mander.
