Having a Baby in the 19th Century

by Kiersti Giron

"The New Arrival," By David Henry Friston, fl. 1850s to late 1880s Artnet.com, Public Domain

The coming of a baby has been a source of wonder and joy since time began. Last month, my husband and I were blessed by the birth of our first baby, a little son, and it's given me a new connection and empathy with mothers throughout time. For this post, we'll take a journey back to what having a baby was like during the 19th century, followed soon by a post on baby care during the same period. I hope you enjoy the ride!


Home vs. Hospital

18th/19th century midwifery log,
possibly owned by Timothy Watkins. Wikimedia Commons

In the earlier decades of the 19th century, midwives tended laboring women almost exclusively, and the vast majority of babies were born at home. While women widely feared the pain and danger of childbirth--and indeed, death in childbirth was common--midwives brought the knowledge and wisdom of generations of women to ease the birthing process as much as possible. Only poor women had their babies in hospitals until the early 1900s, and these "lying in" hospitals were notorious for maternal death, with infections running rampant due to doctors not washing their hands between patients and other unsanitary practices.

Doctors and Forceps

Obstetrical Case, including forceps, mid-19th century. By Welcome Images, https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/a4/c5/5a56ebb92aa1e3d1da13bacc13f7.jpgGallery

With the growing popularity of forceps in the 19th century, doctors began to regularly enter the birthing room for the first time, since they were the ones trained in the use of forceps. This technological invention changed other aspects of childbirth also, such as position. Whereas previously women tended to give birth in a more upright position--which we now know is optimal in easing and expediting the baby's birth--now they started lying on their backs in bed to facilitate the use of forceps.

Anesthesia

Young Queen Victoria, By Franz Xaver Winterhalter - Osborne House, Isle of Wight,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1299559

Queen Victoria was famously the first woman to demand chloroform anesthesia during childbirth. While anesthesia during birth didn't become widespread until the 20th century, it began during the 19th, though it was often dangerous and generally frowned upon. But in an era when the pain of childbirth was emphasized as God's curse upon Eve--never mind that the word for "pain" in Genesis 3 is the same one translated "toil" for Adam--Victoria's success proved a significant precedent, though the growth of anesthesia paved the way for the horrors of twilight sleep in the early 20th century and other less-than-positive interventions.

"Lying In" - Postpartum Care

The Young Mother by Charles West Cope, 1845. Valerie McGlinchey,
CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9977581

As I've been in postpartum recovery mode myself, the 19th century rules for mothers recovery from childbirth were particularly interesting to me. Women were encouraged to stay in bed for some time--no huge surprise there--and not even to get up into a chair until at least the tenth day, according to one 1800s manual. Another, Elizabeth Robinson's Scovil's 1896 Preparation for Motherhood, insists that new mothers not even talk! According to her:


"After all that the newly made mother has undergone, she needs perfect quiet for several hours before she is permitted to see anyone. A five-minute interview with her husband is all that should be granted. However well she feels, quiet should be insisted upon. Excitement is dangerous and no visitors must be permitted to enter the room, nor should conversation be allowed, even if she wishes to talk. Neglect of this precaution may cause serious disaster, even when all seems to be going on well."

Of course, not all women would have had the luxury of resting the four or five weeks recommended by the experts; still, these old-fashioned guidelines can remind us that in most traditional cultures, new mothers are surrounded by a community giving tender loving care for the first month or so to give her and her baby the best possible start.


Now that her baby was born, the 19th century mother, like any other, moved into the next stage of life: motherhood and infant care. But that will be a topic for my next post!


So, how much did you know about 19th century childbirth? What details are most interesting to you? What things are you glad have changed? Please comment and share!




Kiersti Giron holds a life-long passion for history and historical fiction. She loves to write stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. Kiersti has been published in several magazines and won the 2013 and 2018 ACFW Genesis Awards - Historical for two of her novel manuscripts. An English teacher and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God's story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstigiron.com. She lives in California with her husband, their two kitties, and their new baby boy.

The Story of a Woman Writer: Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte, Painted by Evert A. Duyckinick, based on a 
drawing by George Richmond
- University of Texas: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Ever since its first publication in 1847, readers have loved Charlotte Bronte's novel of Victorian young womanhood, self-realization, triumph over adversity, and romance-with-a-dash of intrigue: Jane Eyre. I teach this novel every year to my tenth grade class, and it tends to be one of those students remember longest, even for kids for whom reading a 500-page novel doesn't come easily. I even had an 11th grader choose to do her research paper this year on Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre, such was the impact the story made on her the year before.



So who was this mysterious little woman behind what is now considered one of the greatest Victorian novels? I always enjoy learning the "story behind the story," so I thought you might too!



Charlotte Bronte was born in 1816, the third of what would be six children. Her younger siblings Patrick, Emily, and Anne soon followed. After their mother died, the older girls were sent by their ailing clergyman father to a school similar to the horrifying Lowood described in Jane Eyre. After the two oldest sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died of tuberculosis at school, Emily and Charlotte were thankfully brought home.



Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte. National Portrait Gallery, {{PD-1923}}


Now with their sibling circle reduced to Charlotte, Emily, little Anne, and their brother Patrick, a season began that would eventually lead to literary fame for three of the four: they developed imaginary worlds called Angria and Gondal, wherein countless stories were acted out courtesy of Patrick's toy soldiers. It was these imaginative dramas that sparked the idea of novel-writing for the three girls, whom we now know as famous novelists Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte.



It wasn’t easy to be a woman writer in early Victorian England, however. In fact, the Bronte sisters published their first successful novels—Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Anne’s Agnes Grey, and Charlotte’s Jane Eyre—under the gender-neutral pen names Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell, to avoid the prejudice female authors faced.



Jane Eyre original title page; transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.;
University of Leeds Library, Public Domain


Jane Eyre was an instant success, though controversy also abounded, both as to the identity (and gender) of the author and because of the novel’s “radical” themes. While it might not seem at all radical to us today, Jane’s insistence on standing up for herself against ill-treatment and stance for the human equality of women rubbed some readers the wrong way, as did her biting satire of hypocritical Christians such as the Rev. Brocklehurst.



Charlotte responded to the latter criticism in her preface to the second edition, where she wrote,



“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns…narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ.”



And indeed, Jane Eyre herself has a strong faith in God, though her temper, impulsive spirit, and craving for human love keep her delightfully relateable and human, in contrast to some more “proper” heroines of the day. And no doubt that is why she has been beloved for so many generations.



Just as Jane refused St. John Rivers and waited for the love of her Mr. Rochester, Charlotte Bronte refused several suitors throughout her young womanhood. At last, at age thirty-eight, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, despite the objections of her brother, Patrick. We can only assume she truly loved him. Tragically, Charlotte died less than a year later, due to complications in early pregnancy. But the story she left the world of one young woman’s love, hope, and perseverance continues to touch lives and inspire hearts today.






Kiersti Giron holds a life-long passion for history and historical fiction. She loves to write stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. Kiersti has been published in several magazines and won the 2013 ACFW Genesis Award - Historical for her manuscript Beneath a Turquoise Sky. A high school teacher and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God's story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstigiron.com. She lives in California with her wonderful husband, Anthony.

The Seven Sutherland Sisters & their 37 Feet of Hair!

In the 19th century when proper women pinned up their hair, the seven Sutherland sisters were letting theirs down. Sarah, Victoria, Isabelle, Grace, Naomi, Dora, and Mary sang and played a variety of instruments, but people didn't come to watch them for their musical ability. Instead, they came to admire their super long hair--thirty-seven feet of it. 

The seven Sutherland sisters with their brother

The sisters were born between 1845 and 1865 and lived a hardscrabble life on the family's turkey farm in Cambria, New York. Their mother, Mary, would slather the girls' hair in a nasty smelling ointment, which she believed would make their hair grow thick and strong. The girls' classmate shunned them because of the foul smell. When their mother died in 1867, the girls were finally freed from the foul-smelling oil.

After his wife's death, Fletcher Sutherland pursued fame and fortune by exploiting his children. Along with their one brother, Charles, the sisters toured churches, fairs, and community theaters in Niagara County, singing and playing instruments. 

By 1880, the sisters, billed as The Seven Wonders, made their Broadway debut. By 1881, the sisters took their show on the road, touring the South and visiting cities like Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans, before attending the first World's Fair in the South, the International Cotton Exposition in Atlanta. No matter where they went, they wowed audiences when they'd unleash their floor-length locks.

Sarah, whose hair was the shortest, & Victoria, whose hair was seven feet long

Sarah, the oldest sister and leader of the group, had hair only three feet long and would often sit during exhibitions and photo shoots. Victoria had the longest hair--7 feet--and when she let it down, it would drag behind her like a train. The youngest, Mary, was mentally unstable. Some doctors and preachers went as far as blaming her 6 feet of very heavy, dark hair for pulling on her head.

In 1882, the sisters signed to travel with the W.W. Coles Colossal Shows, and by 1884, they had signed with Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth as a side attraction. When flaunting their lovely hair on stage didn't bring in the money their father had hoped, he created a hair-growing tonic, which Victorian women fought to get. The family became rich almost over night, and the sisters became easily recognized celebrities whose hair was coveted by many.


By the end of 1884, the Sutherland Sisters Corporation had garnered $90,000 in sales. By 1890, the sisters had sold 2.5 million bottles of the Hair Grower alone, raking in more the $3 million dollars. Sarah, Grace, Dora, and Mary never married, possibly for fear that a husband could take controlling interest of their wealth.

Fletcher died in 1888, and the sisters themselves became part-owners in the hair tonic company, which expanded to include a whole line of hair products including a comb, a scalp cleanser, and eight shades of “colorators,” as well as other cosmetics like face cream.

I wish I could say this story had a happy ending, but the sisters eventually ended up broke, after living lavish lifestyles and wasting much of their money. The final death knell came in the 1910s when rebellious young women known as flappers began chopping off their hair.

Mary ended up in an asylum. Dora was killed in a car crash when she and two sisters went to Hollywood in hopes of selling their story. A fire in 1938 destroyed the Sutherland estate, burning up a myriad of artifacts from the sisters' exploits and the recipe for the original tonic. And so the headline-stealing wonders of the Victorian era faded into obscurity. 

Heart of a Cowboy, a new novella collection from four best-selling, award-winning authors. Now available for the pre-release purchase! http://amzn.to/1QleaFy

My novella:

The Hand-Me-Down Husband
By Vickie McDonough

Ellen Stewart despises Lance Garrett. If not for him dashing into Isabelle’s life and stealing her heart and filling her head with his dreams, her little sister would still be alive and safe at home. When she receives Lance’s letter requesting help, Ellen rushes to Silver Springs, intent on taking charge of her young niece. A rugged ranch is no place for a motherless baby. But when she realizes the depth of Lance’s despair, she can’t leave him alone. Though everything within her wants to flee back to the big city, something makes her stay. Tessa needs her father, for one—and he needs her. Ellen knows what it’s like to lose all she’d dreamed of. When local church members make a stink about Ellen living at Lance’s ranch, they are forced to marry. Ellen didn’t want a hand-me-down husband, but could their marriage be God’s will for them both?

Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning fictional romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie is an award-winning author of 40 published books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and End of the Trail, which was the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel winner. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. Song of the Prairie won the 2015 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her latest series, Land Rush Dreams, focuses on the Oklahoma land runs.