Childbirth and women’s healthcare in pre-modern societies: an assessment

Abstract

That childbirth plays a preeminent role in the life of all human groups, communities and societies is obvious to even the casual observer. Few phenomena can be considered so intrinsically fundamental to the ebb and flow of personal and societal life, so universally shared (in the case of infertility, this constitutes yet another thread to the story), and at the same time transcending cultural and geographical borders. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth have not only become an object of study within multiple disciplines, ranging from historical inquiries and the humanities to natural sciences, but they also remain at the forefront of a variety of social, medical and ethical concerns and debates, some of which continue to be political and at times divisive. From this it is clear that although universal, this self-evident human reality and experience does not necessarily account for the variety of cultural and historical interpretations the biological act of childbirth appears to be embedded within.