Thursday 1 November 2012
5.30pm – 7pm
Mill Lane Lecture Room 9, 8 Mill Lane
'The hospitalization of childbirth has historically benefited birthing women less than their doctors'
Around 1900, very few babies in Britain were born in hospitals; by the end of the century, hardly any were not. As part of the Festival of Ideas, the Wellcome Trust funded Generation to Reproduction project presents a debate on the history of medical and social issues surrounding this 'revolution' in childbirth.
In order to focus on historical perspectives, the debate will be framed around the causes of the transition to the hospital and what it has meant for birthing women, midwives and doctors. We ask why the place of birth became so controversial in the decades after World War Two and continues to polarize opinion.
Our panel includes:
- Cathy Warwick (General Secretary, Royal College of Midwives)
- Hilary Marland (Professor of History, University of Warwick)
- Tania McIntosh (Lecturer in midwifery and history of midwifery, University of Nottingham)
- Joanna Kavenna (Novelist, author of The Birth of Love, 2010)