Birthing a slave motherhood and medicine in the antebellum South / Marie Jenkins Schwartz.

Author/creator Schwartz, Marie Jenkins, 1946-
Format Book
Edition1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed.
Publication InfoCambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2009.
Descriptionix, 401 pages ; 21 cm
Subjects
Childbirth--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Obstetrics--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Gynecology--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Motherhood--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Reproductive health--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Enslaved women--Health and hygiene. --Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Enslaved women--Medical care. --Southern States. --History. --19th century.
African American women--Health and hygiene. --Southern States. --History. --19th century.
African American women--Medical care. --Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Medicine--Southern States. --History. --19th century.
Maternal Health Services--history.
Obstetrics--history.
Reproductive Behavior--history.

Contents Procreation -- Healers -- Fertility -- Pregnancy -- Childbirth -- Postnatal complications -- Gynecological surgery -- Cancer and other tumors -- Freedwomen's health.
Abstract "The deprivations and cruelty of slavery have overshadowed our understanding of the institution's most human dimension: birth. We often don't realize that after the United States stopped importing slaves in 1808, births were more important than ever; slavery and the southern way of life could continue only through babies born into bondage. Birthing a slave depicts the competing approaches to reproductive health that evolved on plantations, as both black women and white men sought to enhance the health of enslaved mothers--in very different ways and for entirely different reasons."--Page 4 of cover.
General noteOriginally published: 2006.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 321-390) and index.
ISBN9780674034921 (pbk.)
ISBN0674034929 (pbk.)