Jessica Cox, Confinement: The Hidden History of Maternal Bodies in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Cheltenham: The History Press, 2023) 320 pp. £25.00 Hb. ISBN: 9780750998574
The nineteenth century witnessed a population boom that has long been the subject of historical attention, particularly within in the context of industrialisation and expansion. However, Jessica Cox, a reader in English Literature at Brunel University, argues in her publication Confinement: The Hidden History of Maternal Bodies in Nineteenth-Century Britain, that this work rarely comes with reference to the maternal labour behind it. The book begins in the twenty-first century, with Cox’s own experience of giving birth in the 2016, which she cites as her inspiration for seeking to uncover nineteenth century maternal experiences. Aiming to contribute to work on ‘history from below’, Cox joins a series of historians such as Sarah Fox in uncovering women’s voices and experiences.[1] Confinement is grounded in a wealth of primary source material, utilising women’s letters and diaries throughout alongside examples from novels and advice manuals. Cox acknowledges the disparity in class representation from this source type, with elite women considerably more present in this material, but counters this with the use of institutional and court records, to uncover the experiences of poorer women who did not document their lives themselves. She notes one particularly important source is the collection of letters from working women written in response to a request from the Women’s Co-operative Guild in 1914, which allows the lower classes their own voice within this research.
Confinement follows the process of childbearing chronologically, beginning in Chapter One with ‘(In)Fertility’. This chapter highlights not only the experiences of women who struggled to conceive, but also of women who could not stop conceiving. Cox reveals the toll that fertility took on women, who had no access to contraception during this period, and could not prevent their pregnancies. Alongside this, Cox’s examination into infertility reveals the anguish thar women felt at being unable to conceive, and highlights accounts of desperation. Chapter Two ‘Negotiating Pregnancy’ focuses on the elusiveness of pregnancy, from the invisibility of the pregnant body in portraits to the uncertainty women experienced in ascertaining whether they were expecting. When the realisation did arrive, it was not always well-received, and Cox concludes that ‘for women of all classes, childbirth was approached with a degree of apprehension’ (82).
Chapter Three ‘Confinement and Delivery’, illustrates Cox’s ability to interweave the experiences of both the rich and poor. The account of Queen Victoria giving birth in luxury, surrounded by attendants and medical help is positioned alongside accounts of poor women, potentially sex workers, giving birth to dead children, alone and afraid in the middle of the street. Through this Cox highlights the dangers of birth, and the fear and anxiety surrounding the experience, which whilst present for women of all social classes, was even more prominent for those in poverty. Chapters Four and Five continue this examination into the danger of childbirth. In Chapter Four, ‘Dangerous Business: Maternal Mortality’, the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in childbirth is contrasted with accounts of poor women dying in the workhouse. Chapter Five, ‘Unwanted Pregnancies: Abortion, Abandonment, and Infanticide’ covers a complex topic. The research on abortion demonstrates this was not just used by unmarried women but also married women who could not face another pregnancy, and the examples of abandonment and infanticide chronicle accounts of desperation.
Chapter Six, ‘Midwifery, Maternity Care, and Lying-in Hospitals’, reveals the ‘wider cultural misrepresentation of the figure of the midwife in nineteenth-century Britain’(166) Cox’s effort to address the misrepresentation of the midwife is commendable, however the accounts throughout the rest of this publication instead give the impression that the male physician was superior to the female midwife. The midwife primarily appears as a figure associated with neglect and dangerous care, perhaps an unavoidable consequence of the workhouse and court records examined, which unfortunately overshadows her argument in this section. The chapter further explores lying-in hospitals and their associated risks and concludes with a vital examination into the use of instruments and chloroform, stressing the difference this made to women’s experiences of childbirth. In Chapter Seven ‘Maternal Loss: Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death’, Cox begins the section on miscarriage with modern-day statistics, stressing the similarity in the experiences of women of the nineteenth century, and women of the present day. Although many women did not realise that they were pregnant before they miscarried, accounts demonstrate an understanding of losses that occurred later, and the desire to understand them. The examination into stillbirth and infant death further highlight the trauma and emotional anguish suffered by mothers.
The final two chapters explore occurrences post-birth. Chapter Eight ‘Postnatal Bodies and Minds’ is harrowing, exploring the damage done to women’s bodies in birth, particularly by forceps which left many women incontinent for the remainder of their lives. Postnatal emotions details experiences of melancholy but also puerperal insanity, both in this period misunderstood and endlessly tragic. Chapter Nine ‘Infant Feeding: Breasts, Bottles, and Wet Nurses’ delves into the highly debated topic of breastfeeding, both in the nineteenth century and today. Whilst there was a prominent view that mothers should breastfeed, elite women who found it improper had the option to hire wet-nurses. Poor mothers had no such choice, as breastfeeding was free and they could afford no alternative. The brief afterword ‘Birthing Modern Britain’ concludes this book with a fitting example: Ethel Lancaster, born at the very end of the nineteenth century, and upon her death in 2015, the last remaining Briton born in the reign of Queen Victoria. Cox uses the afterword to highlight the parallels of nineteenth century women’s experiences with the experiences of today’s mothers, concluding that whilst women may now have maternal rights, ‘women remain subject to social and cultural pressures which are not entirely dissimilar to those which affected their predecessors’ (266).
Confinement is an impressively researched and deeply personal account of maternal experiences in the nineteenth century. Grounded in her own maternal experience, this personal touch from Cox is woven throughout the book, and whilst not typical, is a great strength in this work and serves to highlight the close relationship between the maternal experiences of the past and present. Cox avoids privileging the experiences of the wealthy throughout the book, ensuring elite accounts are followed by accounts of the poor, taking place at the same time. This allows Cox to achieve her aim of uncovering ‘the maternal voices from the past which have been largely forgotten, overlooked, or dismissed as insignificant’ (25). This certifies Confinement as a valuable contribution to the field, uncovering the hidden voices and experiences of childbearing women and bringing maternal experience to the forefront.
Ellie Hibbert, University of Essex
[1] Sarah Fox, Giving Birth in Eighteenth-Century England (London: University of London Press, 2022).
