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News of the second Knowledge Exchange Partnership study day on Pregnancy and Birth: Changing practices over the twentieth century: Oxford University, May 7th 2016
Changing practices over the twentieth century The study day to be held in Oxford on 7th May is part of a Knowledge Exchange Partnership, from April 2015-December 2016, conducted by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, the De Partu History of Childbirth Group, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Hardly a week […]
Read moreDe Partu event – September 3rd
Full day including lunch and refreshments £25; afternoon £15 Please contact margaret.lynch@manchester.ac.uk or janette.allotey@manchester.ac.uk by September 1st 2015 if you wish to attend
Read moreA celebration of midwifery in Scotland: Autumn 2015
Celebrating 500 years of Pregnancy and Birth
Please click on the image thumbnails below for details of a forthcoming event: Celebrating 500 years of Pregnancy and Birth: This is being organised by Professor Valerie Worth (Trinity College, Oxford) in collaboration with the RCOG and De Partu. Attendees may also be interested in attending a De Partu meeting on September 3rd 2015, where there will be […]
Read moreHistory of midwifery exhibition – Library, RCPSG, 11th, 18th May 2015 – Glasgow
In this centenary year of the Midwives (Scotland) Act 1915, this exhibition takes a look at the fascinating history of midwifery. Works by William Hunter and the man-midwife William Smellie will be on display. Crush Hall and the Library Reading Room of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow are open to visitors […]
Read moreSheila Kitzinger 1929-2015
The death has been announced today of Sheila Kitzinger, at the age of 86. Sheila Kitzinger made a significant contribution to the understanding of birth in its social context from a feminist perspective, and was a catalyst for improvements in maternity services from the 1960s onwards. She was a prolific author, and became a legend […]
Read moreDesperate measures: an exploration of 18th- and 19th-century obstetric devices from the Manchester Medical Collection
Note: the lecture will give an account of the use of these instruments in destructive operations intended to save the life of the mother — some of the ‘desperate measures’ to which the title refers.
Read moreTransforming Pregnancy Since 1900
Around 1900, few pregnant women in Western Europe or North America had any contact with a medical practitioner before going into labour. By the end the twentieth century, the hospitalisation of childbirth, the legalisation of abortion and a host of biomedical technologies from the Pill and IVF to obstetric ultrasound and prenatal diagnosis had dramatically […]
Read moreBirths and the collective provision of welfare: the long view c.1550-2014
BBC podcast: Dr Helena Wright talks to Sue MacGregor
The “mother of family planning in the UK” Dr Helena Wright talks to Sue MacGregor in 1980 about the early days of the Family Planning Association which formed in 1930. http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/whnews NB this podcast is available for 27 days only – from 17/09/14
Read moreFull text of Midwives Act 1936 now available
A scanned PDF copy of the Midwives Act 1936 can now be downloaded from the Midwives Act 1936
Read moreBirth: personal stories to population policies – conference
18th-19th September 2014, University of Leeds This two-day conference, organised by the School of History’s Health, Medicine and Society research group, brings together those interested in the history of birth, fertility, sexuality, demography and family life, from the medieval period to the present day, and in cultures across the world. The conference aims to situate […]
Read moreThe next De Partu History of Childbirth event, to include a members’ meeting and the presentation of papers, will be held at the historic Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester on 14th October 2014. More details of the programme, which includes lunch, a short guided tour of the school and a musical interlude, will follow […]
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