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The untold history of pregnancy and childbirth in Victorian Britain

About the Author

Jessica Cox is an academic in the Department of Arts and Humanities at Brunel University London, where she teaches and researches nineteenth-century literature and culture. She has authored books on Charlotte Brontë and Victorian and contemporary popular fiction.

Reviews

... much-needed and intriguing study of childbirth and motherhood in Victorian Britain.
*All About History*

'Confinement finds the life thrumming inside original Victorian court documents and medical reports; inviting the reader to experience the past in perfect authenticity. Cox anticipates the modern reader's questions and answers them with sensitivity to modern mindsets and grace toward Victorian ones. Confinement *is a thoroughly researched deep-dive into Victorian maternity that even the most casual paddler can access and enjoy.' *THERESE ONEILL, New York Times bestselling author of *Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners

Compelling, compassionate, and powerful, Jessica Cox’s Confinement uncovers the moving and fascinating history of maternal bodies and experiences in the 19th century. Meticulously researched and elegantly told, Confinement is a necessary and vital work of historical recovery. A beautiful book.’ ELINOR CLEGHORN, author of Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World

‘This is a brilliant, original and deeply researched book. Jessica Cox’s writing is both erudite and engaging, and brings to the fore a subject that has too long been omitted from the historical imagination. Confinement is sure to interest scholars from a wide range of disciplines as well as the general reader.’ Prof. EMMA GRIFFIN, author of Bread Winner: An Intimate History of the Victorian Economy

‘This new book offers us a rare glimpse of the maternal experiences of Victorian women. It encourages us to reflect on the rights, responsibilities and restrictions of the birthing body, and how they have been and continue to be debated, challenged and subject to change.’ SARAH FOX, historian and author of Giving Birth in Eighteenth-Century England

'Illuminating, provocative, and so engaging. Cox’s history of motherhood is revelatory about a past that resonates powerfully today. This important and timely book is written with great intellect, grace and empathy. I cannot recommend it enough.’ HELEN CULLEN, author of The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually

‘Confinement is a long overdue contribution to nineteenth-century history. It’s astonishing to consider that while women’s bodies have birthed the world, so little attention has been paid to the realities of the maternal body of the past. This is an important, fascinating and frequently shocking read.’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO, author of Girl, Woman, Other

‘Compelling and compassionate … A fertile study of women’s history and a real labour of love that is long overdue.’ KATE LISTER, author of A Curious History of Sex

'Jessica Cox’s book is an enthralling account of the practicalities and perils of maternity in the 19th Century, holding up a critical lens to the dynamics of gender and social class in women’s lives. Written in concise and elegant prose, Cox draws on a fascinating range of personal and public archive material to bring the complicated story of women’s bodies and childbearing to life.' HANNAH LOWE, poet and author of The Kids (winner of the Costa Prize)

'(an) excellent, compassionate and shocking study of maternity in Victorian Britain.' BEL MOONEY, Daily Mail

'...Confinement will reward anyone interested, personally or professionally, in the maternal experience – past or present.' AGNES ARNOLD-FORSTER, History Today
*History Today*

‘…an illuminating read for any family historians wondering exactly how their Victorian ancestors were born, and what their mothers suffered in pregnancy and childbirth.’ Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
*Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine*