The story of how we give birth is incredible. BORN is also a narration of the female struggle, not for equality, but to govern their own bodies and its ability to reproduce; it explores how men have striven for control over pregnancy and birth since the times of ancient civilisation. This is a serious history, with compelling stories illustrating the account of the medical, scientific, political and social changes that influence childbirth.
Lucy Inglis takes us from the prehistoric art and sculpture celebrating new life, to the Netherlandish 16th century printer Jan Van Rymsdyk who produced the first medical guide at great personal risk, to Queen Victoria's surgeon and the treatments of today. She visits London hospitals, spends time with Amish communities in Ohio, and speaks of her own story which sets this whole book in motion.
BORN begins with the story of one remarkable man in a Soho basement and ends with the stories of women across the world.
BORN: A History of Childbirth
Lucy Inglis
A fascinating and incredibly readable cultural history of the highest order.
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Book Details
Imprint: Bloomsbury Continuum
Publication Date: 22-05-2025
288 pages
About the Author
Lucy Inglis is the author of Milk of Paradise: A History of Opium, and Georgian London which was shortlisted for the History Today Longman Prize. She is also the author of two novels for young adults, including City of Halves, which was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Branford Boase award.
Material Available
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Reviews
Praise for Milk of Paradise:
"Lucy Inglis has done a wonderful job bringing together a wide range of sources to tell the history of the most exciting and dangerous plants in the world. Telling the story of opium tells us much about our faults and foibles as humans--our willingness to experiment; our ability to become addicts; our pursuit of money. This book tells us more than about opium; it tells us about ourselves." - Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
