Pregnancy and Childbirth in the Victorian Age: Advancement, But At What Cost?

The Victorian period was a time of growing scientific interest in sexual behavior pursued by the upper classes of England. Accordingly, demands for open discussions of sexuality and proposals for moral reformation were issued throughout the nation. The major concern of these Victorians lay in the sexual depravity of the laboring classes of London. It was feared that the immorality would destroy both the moral and political order of the "great Christian nation". This paper will attempt to discuss pregnancy as it occurred amongst the lower classes, and explore trends and advancement in childbirth across class lines.

It seems fitting, when writing on pregnancy, to start with some explanation of the conditions under which this "condition" arose. I will concentrate on those pregnancies which were seen as lowliest, that of the "single mother". In Barret-Ducrocq's book Love in the Time of Victoria, information pertaining to the plight of the women and men of the working classes was gathered from the files and interviews of the Foundling Hospital. In 1741, Thomas Coran opened the Foundling Hospital, an institution to house, care for, and educate the "bastard" children of London. Entrance was not easy, and women had to endure a long interview process. "The sample visitor entered the hospital, and was given a detailed admissions sheet. The internal rules of the establishment required an unmarried mother…to conform to certain criteria. She had to show that her good faith had been betrayed…she had given way to carnal passion only after a promise of marriage or against her will…she had no other children…that her conduct had always been irreproachable in any other way. She must also be without any sort of material aid. Finally, the child had to be under one year old." (Barret-Ducrocq, 41). The thought of a moral woman having sex for the pleasure of sex was unheard of. "Decent women seldom desired sexual gratification for themselves, submitting only to their husbands' demands only in order to achieve motherhood". (Porter and Hall, 142)

The hospital's admissions were designed in such a way as to avoid giving encouragement to women who were selling their bodies. Women often submitted love notes (or any other correspondence) from the father of the child as evidence and were required to write lengthy descriptions of every detail of their meetings with the father. It is certain that some of these documents were fabricated in an attempt to gain entrance for children, but claims were exhaustively acquired upon, and many Londoners were more than happy to support or refute claims by mothers.

In the papers of the Foundling Hospital, we find many different situations that produced illegitimate children. Rape is often cited as cause for the "situation". Many cases tell stories of innocent girls (especially housemaids) violently pursued by their masters. While rape in this case was somewhat common, it should be examined in contrast with that of the naive housemaid, who dreamed of winning her master's love through sexual relations. Many times when the courtship ended with pregnancy, the once willing servant changed her story to "violent conquest". Most disturbing is Barret-Ducrocq's theory that the wives of these "perpetrators" were sometimes willing to accept the sexual escapes of husband and housemaid. Because contraception was so rare, copulation often resulted in pregnancy. Since pregnancy and childbirth were probably the most dangerous times in a woman's life (health-wise), wives of prominent men were all too willing to have their husbands fulfill sexual needs upon naive housegirls. Prostitution required cash-payment; servant girls were available, and any charges upon the master of rape seldom rose to fruition in court.

In Anthony Wohl's article "Sex in the Single Room", Wohl cites the one room tenement as many a cause for out-of- wedlock pregnancy. "In 1851, over twenty-one percent of Preston's families had over eight members, it should be noted that boys and girls tended to stay home, despite overcrowded conditions (and because of high rents) until they were adults. These family patterns, together with drunkenness, overcrowding, poor education and generally lax standards of sexual morality formed the culture of poverty." (Wohl, 205). Often, even in these very crowded conditions, borders, cousins, and other extended family members came to stay in search of work; many of the girls cite these settings for unwanted pregnancy.

Finally, we have the condition of the "jilted lover". Many girls produced very thorough documentation of promises of marriage through love-letters. Once pregnancy was involved, many men disappeared. There were no legal implications for a man who deserted a woman with his child; on the contrary, the Poor Law passed in 1834 "violently attacked the moral depravity which supposed to have been encouraged by the old regulations. Strongly influenced by Malthusian theories, the commissions asserted…the law had implicitly encouraged the celebration of improvised marriages." (Barret-Ducrocq, 156). Many claimed that if a man was legally forced to marry or support a woman whom he had impregnated, this would lead to husband-hunting and men with comfortable incomes would be "wasted" on prostitutes and women of low moral standards, rather than the available maidens of the middle classes.

Often, empty promises of dishonest suitors preyed upon the naivete of young girls. Young men, faced with the thought of supporting three rather than one, ran off and were never heard from again. In most cases, jilted girls did not get much sympathy from the families of the men who ran away (if she even knew where they resided). Some men left and sent stipends for a while, but this was very seldom.

After looking at the many different situations that led to illegitimacy, examining the actual childbirth is logical. There is little distinction in the birthing process of the upper or middle class woman as compared with that of the working class. Many lend the improvements in childbirth to the interest of Queen Victoria, who wrote articles and "played a transitional role in popularizing new obstetrical procedures". (Miller, 23) At the same time, many women were still extremely prudish about the physiology of pregnancy and birth, and it is said that the Queen even destroyed written notes about her own confinement, citing the information was "indelicate".

In the upper and middle classes, "It [childbirth] was a rite that had women at its center and no event in the lives of Victorian women was more solemnly and even ritualistically observed." (Miller, 23). Women gave birth at home, and were attended by other women. Childbirth was frequently a communal event, and women learned about childbirth from mothers and other female counterparts. The event was furthermore attended by a "gossip", usually consisting of the mother and a number of friends. If the family could afford one, a midwife was employed.

One of the first changes in childbirth that occurred during Victoria's reign was that of the use of chloroform. By no means did its use rapidly spread to the common woman; there was much controversy surrounding Victoria's use of an anesthetic. The proponents of the controversy were religious figures, who argued that chloroform was "a decoy of Satan, apparently offering itself to bless women; but in the end, it will harden society, and rob God of the deep earnest cries in time of trouble for help." (Simpson, 123) It is quite obvious that this statement was penned by a man that never had been through labor!

Nevertheless, in 1853, at the birth of her eighth child, Victoria silenced religious leaders and legitimized the use of chloroform by using it herself. The use soon trickled into the Queen's private circles, and then through the upper class. "It was technically called 'intermittent chloroform analgesia', but became known as "chloroform a la Reine." (Miller, 25).

Childbirth in rural areas was also very communal. Gossips attended, as well as family. Often midwives were not available, and delivery was assisted by a knowledgeable woman of the town or village. Later, gossips were banished from the lying-in rooms all together. Later still, women began giving birth in maternity hospitals. Women who could not afford a maternity hospital or had their children out of wedlock gave birth in charity hospitals. This may have been at a great cost. While hospital settings provided a more technologically advanced setting, they were rampant with germs and disease. Women were denied a sense of dignity and the comfort of having friends and family to assist. Often hospitals were dirty, and many women report of being rushed, and prodded and poked by student doctors.

The nineteenth century saw great use and invention of obstetrical instruments. Forceps had already been around for many years before this period but had never been used in the capacity new doctors employed them. Other mechanical devices also were devised, mostly to extract the fetus from the mother's womb. Many were "invaluable in saving the lives of mothers and infants in cases of difficult labor". (Miller, 29) The use of these objects were sometimes "overused" in circumstances wherein novice physicians felt driven to try out their new instruments. What the devices did ultimately do was move the science of childbirth up to the order of a "specialized science". (Miller, 30)

The nineteenth century seems to be a paradox in its attitude toward women and childbirth. Motherhood and the idea of the "saintly" woman who cared for her children undauntedly was revered while pregnancy and the actual act of childbirth was seen as dirty. In a male dominated society, we see compassion, but it appears to be veiled with many strings attached. The Foundling Hospital was established to save innocent babes, but what of the innocent mothers whose only fault was to believe in the devious charms of her suitor? Obstetrical devices and customs seemingly provided more ease and fewer complications in delivery. But, yet again, this caused a huge trend in putting the mother in an almost "quarantined" state when she is most vulnerable.

Victorian practices are still embedded in the American mindset. Homebirths and midwife-assisted births are uncommon in the United States, while in many European countries they are the norm. The fact is women and children have much better survival rate today, but the feminine mystique behind childbirth has given way to the sometimes-cold clinical setting.

Works Cited

Barret-Ducrocq, Franciose. Love in the Time of Victoria: Sexuality and Desire Among Working-Class Men and Women in Nineteenth Century London. Trans. John Howe. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.

Miller, John Hawkins. "'Temple and Sewer': Childbirth, Prudery, and Victoria Regina." The Victorian Family. Ed. Anthony S. Wohl. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978.

Porter, R. and Hall, L. The Facts of Life: The Creation of Sexual Knowledge in Britain, 1650-1950. Avon: The Bath Press. 1995.

Simpson, James Young. Anesthesia, or the Employment of Chloroform and Ether in Surgery, Midwifery, Etc. Philadelphia. 1849.

Wohl, Anthony S. "Sex and the Single Room." The Victorian Family. Ed. Anthony S. Wohl. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978.