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Although there is substantial literature on childbirth, it typically lacks the full medical, historical, and social context that these volumes provide. This series fills the gap in many institutions' libraries by bringing together key articles on the expectant mother, the attendants of her delivery, and the health of the newborn infant. The articles are from British and American publications that focus upon childbirth practices over the past 300 years and are selected from both primary and secondary sources. Some are classic works in medical literature; others are from historical, sociological, anthropological and feminist literature that present a wider range of scholarly perspectives on childbirth issues.

Charts the progress of childbirth, midwifery, and obstetrics

The series provides readers with key primary sources that illuminate the history of childbirth, midwifery and obstetrics. For example, general historical texts note that childbed (puerperal) fever claimed hundreds of thousands of maternal lives, and provoked much fear in Britain and America. The articles in this series, in addition to historical facts, also provide discussion of the causes and consequences of particular fever cases taken from the medical literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, and reveal what a challenge this disorder was to the medical profession.

Includes more primary sources than other collections

The articles serve as a resource for students and teachers in various fields including history, women's studies, human biology, sociology and anthropology. They also meet the educational needs of pre-medical and nursing students and aid pre-professional, allied health, and midwifery instructors in lesson preparations. The series examines a wide range of practical experience and offers a historical perspective on the most important developments in the history of British and American childbirth, midwifery, and obstetrics.