Women matter. They conceive, bear new life, and are mostly responsible for raising their children. So how can it be that it is still mainly men’s voices that dominate the discourse of reproduction? Although pregnancy and birth remained largely female domains of knowledge and expertise until the late 17th century, it is still the male apothecaries, practitioners, and surgeons who receive scholarly attention. This publication combines scientific writings of male authorship and personal writings of female authorship in 17th-century England to expand the sociohistorical picture of reproduction. Through the lens of feminist literary criticism and IPA (interpretative phenomenological analysis), the texts are examined across three different spectra, and set in context with existing scholarship. This book argues that only with polyvocality can we gain a more nuanced understanding of the complex topics of pregnancy and birth which are highly gendered on both a macro and a micro level.
Review-Documentation
Double Peer Review (Full Text, Pre-publication) + Scientific Board Selection
