Victorian Maternity

Victorian Maternity

Working Class Maternity

According to author Helena Wojtczak, “the average working class wife was either 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 likely linked to the fact that birth control literature was illegal at the time (Wojtczak). Wohl’s 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 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. The article states 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, 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 Maternity

By the mid nineteenth century, Abrams states that Victorian middle cl...

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...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, History 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< http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/wojtczak/pregnancy.html>