Birth, babies and midwives

In light of the birth of the Royal baby on Monday and the newly breaking news that he will go by the name of George Alexander Louis, I thought that now is a particularly apt time to reflect on how our ideas, and indeed experiences, of birth have changed (or not, as the case may be!) over the centuries from the early-modern period.

Much medical and gynecological knowledge available in the seventeenth-century stemmed from translations of classical sources, including Galen and Hippocrates. In a culture dominated by male translations and reflections on these works, such as those of Nicholas Culpeper, Jane Sharp's achievement in The Midwives Book (1671) is perhaps one of the most remarkable in terms of helping our understanding of labour and birth in the seventeenth century. Though her treatise is an amalgamation of voices since she essentially cuts and pastes sections from other midwifery manuals and classical sources, her own voice and tone is often unmistakable.

Though midwives (thankfully?!) do not now 'annoint [their] hands with Oyl of Lillies, and the Womans Secrets' (p. 153) and instead favour latex gloves for internal examinations, much of what I have transcribed below certainly still has echoes with the modern practice of midwifery.

In Book IV of her text, Sharp sets out 'Rules for Women that are come to their Labour':

- 'When the Patient feels her Throws coming she should walk easily in her Chamber, and then again lye down, keep her self warm, rest her self and then stir again, till she feels the waters coming down and the womb to open; let her not lye long a bed, yet she may lye sometimes and sleep to strengthen her, and to abate pain' (p. 145).

- 'Take notice that all women do not keep the same posture in their delivery; some lye in their beds, being very weak, some sit in a stool or chair, or rest upon the side of the bed, held by other women that come to the Labor' (p. 153).

- 'The danger were much to force delivery, because when the woman hath laboured sore, if she rest not a while, she will not be able presently to endure it, her strength being spent before' (p. 156).

As we can see from these excerpts, though our medical knowledge surrounding labour and its complexities has of course changed dramatically, some of this most basic, yet credible, advice for a woman giving birth is really not so different to what mothers are told today.

Whilst here I have spoken about the intrapartum element of childbirth, if you are interested in what Sharp recommends for the postpartum care of new mothers, I would definitely recommend that you head over and have a read of Jennifer Evans's blog on this very subject! Take a look at it here: http://earlymodernmedicine.com/beyond-birth/

1. Jane Sharp, The Midwives Book, ed. by Elaine Hobby (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
2. Frontispiece image taken from the electronic edition of The Midwives Book on EEBO.
3. An engraving of a pregnant woman on a birthing stool, surrounded by her midwife and gossips. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449803/

© Jenna Townend 2013

Review: 'This I Warn You in Love': Witness of Some Early Quaker Women

The world of female Quakers who lived, operated, and preached in the seventeenth century is still a relatively untilled field of early-modern research. A couple of weeks ago, I did a post on Dorothea Gotherson, and her firm belief in the necessity of female modesty and decorum. I was pointed to Gotherson's work from reading 'This I Warn You in Love': Witness of Some Quaker Women, a booklet that was written by two of my lecturers at Loughborough, Elaine Hobby and Catie Gill, and published this year by The Kindlers. The booklet was so insightful and thought provoking, that I thought I would give an overview of it here!

The booklet is set out with an introduction to the fundamental principles of Quaker women, and an account of the movement's progression during the seventeenth century. One of the most significant things that the introduction notes is that Quaker writers, and thus Quaker women, believed their relationship with God to be intensely personal, and that God was working with them. This is something that is explicitly present in several of the extracts transcribed in the booklet. Furthermore, the introduction explains the fact that Quakers had a great dislike of the strict formalities that had come to dominate religious worship. Quakers firmly believed that these practices had distanced Christians from the dedication seen in early Christianity, and were keen to encourage worshippers to re-engage with it. This, too, is shown to be a recurring theme throughout the excerpts in the booklet.

There are six excerpts in the booklet, focusing on the work of the following Quaker women: Sarah Blackborow, Margaret Abbott, Priscilla Cotton, Mary Cole, Katherine Evans, Sarah Cheevers, Dorothea Gotherson, Margaret Killin, Barbara Patison, Hester Biddle and Dorothy Waugh. As well as these prose extracts in the booklet, an audio recording of them is also included on a CD. Hearing these accounts being read aloud really brings them to life, and the words of these Quaker women take on a new resonance. 

Below I have picked out a couple of my favourite sections from the work of Sarah Blackborow and Margaret Abbott that highlight the potential for a highly personal relationship with God, and the dislike of highly-organised and formal worship or religion.

1) Sarah Blackborow, A Visit to the Spirit in Prison (1658):
'A love there is which doth not cease to the seed of God in you all; and therefore doth invite you everyone, priest and people, to return in to it, that into Wisdom's house you may come, where there is a feast provided of all things well refined'.

2) Margaret Abbott, A Testimony against the False Teachers of this Generation (1658):
'You shall be made anew by the power of the pure spirit of the Son of God. It will teach you to deny all ungodliness. You shall need go to no man to be taught. It will bring you out of all the ways of the world, fashions, customs and traditions...'

The tenacity, self-belief, and sheer determination of these radical women is remarkable, and I would urge anyone with an interest in religious writing to get hold of a copy of this booklet; it will certainly open your eyes to this fascinating world.

'Male and Female Quakers at their Assembly', French School, 17th century

Source: http://firstyear.barnard.edu/americas/puritans/images

© Jenna Townend 2013

Hardwick Hall: 'more glass than wall'

In light of the sudden spurt of summer over the last few days, I confess that I have rather been neglecting my reading and writing of blog posts. The combination of being at home in West Cornwall, blazing hot sunshine and beaches are not especially conducive to work!

I did, however, just want to share with you a few photos that I rediscovered on my iPhone this week. For my birthday in May, my parents came up to Loughborough for the weekend and one day we went over to Hardwick Hall. The house is truly one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen: the adage that it is 'more glass than wall' is certainly true! Of course, in the early-modern period, glass was extremely expensive, and so the amount of window glass on display at Hardwick functions as an external symbol of wealth, class, and social status. Along with the initials of Bess of Hardwick (E. S. - Elizabeth Shrewsbury) that are set atop the Hall's roof, its external facade is certainly something to behold, and this was clearly Bess's intention! There would have been no mistaking the wealth of the Hall's owner as visitors drew close to it. I think that there is something really exciting about being able to literally walk in the footsteps of those who lived and breathed in the period that you are researching, and if any of you have the opportunity to visit Hardwick Hall, I would highly recommend it. I would also recommend the restaurant's fine selection of cake, particularly if you happen to have a penchant for Guinness cake, or beetroot and chocolate cake (yes, really)!

The first two pictures are of the original Hardwick Hall, Bess's childhood home. Eventually, with her accumulated wealth, she returned to the site and re-built the Hall in the place where it stands today (see bottom picture).

© Jenna Townend 2013

Dorothea Gotherson: in search of demureness and decorum

A lot of people will have heard of several prominent Quaker preachers, such as George Fox, from the early days of the movement in the seventeenth-century. However, often relegated to the shadows of history (but thankfully enjoying a resurgence in popularity in recent years), are the Quaker women who were equally fundamental in the establishment of the Quaker movement in England, and further afield. One of these women was Dorothea Gotherson.

In this extract of To All that Are Unregenerated, Gotherson takes the female fashions of Charles II’s court to task, and criticises them for their ostentatiousness and vanity. For Quakers, the decorum and modesty required in an individual’s spiritual life should be visible in all aspects of their person, including their clothing and appearance. It is surely not surprising, therefore, that the court was Gotherson’s chosen target, given its infamy for indulgence.

The persona that Gotherson presents in this excerpt (and indeed for much of the rest of her work), is, I’m sure you’ll agree, absolutely marvellous. I think that it is a brilliant example of Quaker women as prophetesses.

‘And all ye Ladies of England, who walk with stretched-out necks, and wanton eyes, mincing as you go, and making a clattering with your feet, curling your hair, and painting and spotting your faces, wearing gorgeous array, and the like; why consider, when  you come to give an account for all things done in the body, where will you appear? For none of this adornes the Gospel; God works none of these works in you or for you; and one day you shall know you have not lived and moved in him, for he is the author of none of this: you shall not have so much time for sinning as you have had heretofore if you will not bow to the righteous law written in the heart, that which reproves in secret for these and all other sins, you shall fall and perish in them; for in the grave there is no repentance. Let no blinde guide or merchant of souls sell you any longer to work wickedness…’ (pp. 77-9). 

1. Dorothea Gotherson, To All That are Unregenerated a Call to Repentance (London: 1661), in EEBO.

An excellent introduction to the work of early Quaker women (including more of an insight into Dorothea Gotherson) can be found in 'This I Warn You In Love': Witness of Some Early Quaker Women, a short book written by Elaine Hobby and Catie Gill and published this year by The Kindlers.

© Jenna Townend 2013