Brought to bed : childbearing in America, 1750 to 1950 / Judith Walzer Leavitt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leavitt, Judith Walzer, author.

Contributor:

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Obstetrics--United States--History--18th century.

Obstetrics.

Obstetrics--United States--History--19th century.

Obstetrics--United States--History--20th century.

Childbirth--United States--History--18th century.

Childbirth.

Childbirth--United States--History--19th century.

Childbirth--United States--History--20th century.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxv, 284 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Thirtieth Anniversary Edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016]

Summary:

Based on personal accounts by birthing women and their medical attendants, Brought to Bed reveals haw childbirth has changed from colonial times to the late twentieth century. Judith Walzer Leavitt's classic study focuses on the traditional woman-centered home-birthing practices, their replacement by male doctors, and the movements from the home to the hospital. Leavitt narrates the shifting power of child bearing women and their physicians, as well as changes in infant and maternal mortality. She also discusses how women have attempted to retrieve some of the traditional women and family-centered aspects of childbirth. This 30th anniversary edition includes a new preface that reviews the burgeoning writing on the history of childbirth since its publication. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 "Under the Shadow of Maternity" Childbirth and Women's Lives in America 13

2 "Science" Enters the Birthing Room The Impact of Physician Obstetrics 36

3 "Overcivilization and Maternity" Differences in Women's Childbirth Experiences 64

4 "Only a Woman Can Know" The Role of Gender in the Birthing Room 87

5 "The Greatest Blessing of This Age" Pain Relief in Obstetrics 116

6 Why Women Suffer So Meddlesome Midwifery and Scrupulous Cleanliness 142

7 "Alone Among Strangers" Birth Moves to the Hospital 171

8 Decision-Making and the Process of Change 196.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Leavitt, Judith Walzer, author. Brought to bed

ISBN:

9780190264123

0190264128

OCLC:

954134157

Publisher Number:

99970130717