History of Childbirth Fertility, Pregnancy and Birth in Early Modern Europe [Paperback]

Highly detailed and clearly written, this book is the first full-length study of the complex system of practices, beliefs and taboos which surrounded conception and childbirth in early modern Europe.

In a rich and scholarly study, Jacques Gelis reconstructs the activities and attitudes of the midwives and mothers, and the sufferings they had to endure. He continues with an examination of the role of the Church, the herbalist and the mineral world (touchstones and talisman) in the explanation of the mysteries of procreation.Introduction.

Part I: The Rhythms of the Earth: The Mother of all Things:.

1. Man, the Earth and the Cosmos.

2. Daughter, Wife and Mother.

3. What if No Child Appears?.

4. The Cycle of Life.

Part II: Pregnancy: A Time of Hope, Suffering and Anxiety:.

5. The Body in Pregnancy.

6. The Experience of Pregnancy.

Part III: The Woman Giving Birth:.

7. The Society of Birth.

8. Hastening the Hour of Deliverance.

Part IV: Between Mother and Child:.

9. Birth: A Double Liberation.

10. Suffering to Give Life.

11. Stages in the Delivery.

12. The Placenta: Double of the Child.

13. The Governance of Mother and Child.

Part V: The Socialization of the Child:.

14. Welcoming the New Baby.

15. Socializing the Child: Giving a Name.

Part VI: The Divagations of Nature:.

16. The Falling of the Flower.

17. The Unripe Fruit.

18. Unnatural Delivery.

19. Death, the Greatest Aberratil£*