Victorian Maternity Essay -- Victorian Era

puritanical MaternityWorking Class MaternityAccording to author Helena Wojtczak, the average working class wife was any pregnant or breast-feeding from wedding day to menopause, bearing approximately eight pregnancies, and ultimately raising approximately five children. This overflow of offspring was most promising linked to the fact that birth control literature was illegal at the time (Wojtczak). Wohls research of the difficulties in straight-laced childbirth shows that a junto of a nutrient deficient diet, and a substantial deficiency of both height and weight prevalent in urban working class Victorian women very likely contributed to an exceedingly high number of premature births, and consequently, a high infant mortality rate. Also, working class women were expected to continue working throughout their entire pregnancy. Examples of this prejudice can be found in Victorian articles such as The Rearing and Management of Children Mother and Baby in Cassells Household Guide. T he article cites that, He who placed one cleaning lady in a position where labour and exertion are parts of her existence, gives her a stronger state of body than her more luxurious sisters. To one inured to toil from childhood, ordinary work is merely exercise, and, as such, necessary to keep up her physical powers, though extra work should be, of course, avoided as much as possible. In reference to pregnancy outside of marriage, Wojtczak notes that it was notably common for a working class woman to become pregnant out of wedlock, and due to the social stigma involved, and the possibility of unemployment, these women often chose to conceal their pregnancy.Middle Class MaternityBy the mid ordinal century, Abrams states that Victorian middle cl... ...ther and Baby. Cassells Household Guide, New and Revised Edition. C.1880s no date. Victorian London. Lee Jackson, Ed. Vol. I. Pg. 10. 8 November 2004 .Wohl, Anthony S. Women and Victorian Public Health Difficulties in Childbirth. The Victorian Web Literature, archives and Culture in the Age of Victoria. George P. Landlow. 29 June 2002. National University at Singapore. 8 November 2004. .Wojtczak, Helena. Pregnancy and Childbirth. English Social History Women of Nineteenth-Century Hastings and St.Leonards. An Illustrated Historical Miscellany. The Hastings Press. The Victorian Web Literature, History, and Culture in the age of Victoria. George P. Landlow. National University at Singapore. 8 November 2004