It’s not often that we hear about ghost stories with infants as the protagonists, I’ve heard a couple (the disembodied crying baby or weirdness with baby monitors), but usually, if it’s a halfling ghost, it’ll be a child. But that wasn’t the case in Needham, Massachusetts in 1839– Just past […]
Today we’ll be looking at the evolving understanding of sudden infant death in history, focusing on the developments in the United States during the 20th century. Content Warning: This post will discuss sudden infant death, infanticide, and child abuse. If you know that you are uncomfortable with this subject manner […]
Today we’re looking at baby carriers in William Hogarth’s The March of the Guards to Finchley from 1750. The March of the Guards to Finchley, depicts a fictional troop of buffoonish British troops in Tottenham Court Road, in London, on their way to fight the Jacobean forces in the uprising […]
Rani Lakshmibai, also know as Rani of Jhansi, has inspired countless works of art featuring her charging into battle on horseback with a baby on her back. In this video, we learn more about her life and what led to the famous scene.
This painting by Jan Steen features common baby accessories from the 17th century: teethers, falling caps, and leading strings:
What qualified as a natural birth in the 16th century? In this post, we look at what the Birth of Mankind, from 1540, had to say about a natural birth in the Tudor Era including birthing positions, recipes for potions, pessaries, vaginal incense, pain relieving lubricants, herbal baths with toxic heavy metals, as well as what kind of diet and exercise the Tudor woman should have in later pregnancy and during labor.
A young woman nursing a baby, was painted in 1868 by Dutch landscape painter, Jacob Maris. He was living in Paris when he painted this portrait of his wife Catharina Hendrika Horn breastfeeding their first baby, Guillaume [gee-um] who was born in April of 1868 and tragically died the following […]
Learn more about the first book in English on pregnancy, birth, and newborn care: The Byrth of Mankynde, 1540.
Learn about the humoral theory and it’s ideas about pregnancy, birth, and infant care including breastfeeding.
What was measles like for people before vaccination? Watch or read about measles in the Tudor era.
