Birthing a slave, motherhood and medicine in the antebellum South, Marie Jenkins Schwartz
Type
Label
Birthing a slave, motherhood and medicine in the antebellum South, Marie Jenkins Schwartz
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-390) and index
Index
index present
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
Birthing a slave
Nature of contents
bibliography
Oclc number
62179178
Responsibility statement
Marie Jenkins Schwartz
Sub title
motherhood and medicine in the antebellum South
Summary
"In the antebellum South, slaveholders' interest in slave women was matched by physicians who wanted to assert their own professional authority over childbirth, and the two began to work together to increase the number of infants born in the slave quarter. In unprecedented ways, doctors tried to manage the health of enslaved women from puberty through the reproductive years, attempting to foster pregnancy, cure infertility, and resolve gynecological problems, including cancer." "Black women, however, proved an unruly force, distrustful of both the slaveholders and their doctors. With their own healing traditions, emphasizing the power of roots and herbs and the critical roles of family and community, enslaved women struggled to take charge of their own health in a system that did not respect their social circumstances, customs, or values. 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." "Birthing a Slave is the first book to focus exclusively on the health care of enslaved women, and it argues for the critical role of reproductive medicine in the slave system of antebellum America."--Jacket
Classification
Subject
- Childbirth -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- African American women + Health and hygiene -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Motherhood -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Reproductive health -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Medicine -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Enslaved women + Medical care -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Enslaved women + Health and hygiene -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- African American women + Medical care -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Gynecology -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Obstetrics -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
Content
Mapped to
Incoming Resources
- Has instance1
Outgoing Resources
- Classification2
- Creator1
- Subject10
- Childbirth -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- African American women + Health and hygiene -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Motherhood -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Reproductive health -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Medicine -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Enslaved women + Medical care -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Enslaved women + Health and hygiene -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- African American women + Medical care -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Gynecology -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Obstetrics -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
- Content1
- Mapped to1