by Diane Morris | Aug 18, 2016 | Childbirth, Medicine
“You are all familiar with Dr. Chipman’s aphorism, ‘The process of parturition is the same in the countess as in the cow.’ Very true, but, unfortunately, the results are infinitely better in the cow than in the countess.” — Karl M....
by Diane Morris | Jul 21, 2016 | Childbirth, Medicine
My previous blog posts examined the supposed causes of childbed fever as they were understood in late 18th-century England, when Jane Austen was a teenager, and also the treatments prescribed to manage the symptoms of this often fatal disease. In reading various books...
by Diane Morris | Jun 11, 2015 | Childbirth, Jane Austen, Regency Research
Would polite Society censure Miss Anne de Bourgh for sitting as a gossip during her friend’s delivery? This question was one of the first I asked when researching my Regency novel, Rosings Park, which is based on characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It...
by Diane Morris | May 21, 2015 | Childbirth
Strange as it seems to us, the word “gossip” had a friendly meaning during the Regency period and for many centuries before that: a “gossip” was a woman who attended her daughter’s or sister’s or friend’s delivery. In its original sense, the word was a...
by Diane Morris | Mar 26, 2015 | Childbirth
Two parties waged a passionate battle throughout the Regency period and long afterward over the admittance of men to the practice of midwifery. On one side stood the midwives, who promoted patience and a reliance on Nature during delivery. On the opposing side were...
