Victorian Maternity Essay -- Victorian Era

puritanic maternityWorking Class maternal qualityAccording to author Helena Wojtczak, the average work class married woman was either pregnant or breast-feeding from wedding day to menopause, bearing or so eight pregnancies, and ultimately raising approximately five children. This overflow of matter was most likely linked to the fact that birth control belles-lettres was illegal at the time (Wojtczak). Wohls research of the difficulties in Victorian childbirth shows that a combination 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 extremely high number of premature births, and consequently, a high infant mortality rate rate. Also, working class women were expected to continue working throughout their absolute pregnancy. Examples of this prejudice can be found in Victorian articles such as The Rearing and Management of Children Mother and Baby in Cassells hab itation Guide. The article alleges that, He who placed one woman 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, run-of-the-mine work is merely exercise, and, as such, necessary to keep up her bodily 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 brotherly stigma involved, and the possibility of unemployment, these women often chose to conceal their pregnancy.Middle Class MaternityBy the mid nineteenth century, Abrams states that Victorian middle cl... ...ther and Baby. Cassells Household Guide, sweet 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 Diffi culties in Childbirth. The Victorian Web Literature, History and socialization in the hop on of Victoria. George P. Landlow. 29 June 2002. National University at Singapore. 8 November 2004. .Wojtczak, Helena. Pregnancy and Childbirth. English friendly 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