Call for Chapters: History of Pregnancy and Childbirth

Chapter proposals are invited for A Cultural History of Pregnancy and Childbirth: The Age of Enlightenment and the Atlantic System (1765 – 1860), under contract with Bloomsbury for their Cultural History Series. We seek authors for the following four thematic chapters:

Legal and Political Contexts, Science and Medicine, Fertility Control, Meanings and Representations

The particular focus of each chapter within the general themes outlined above is up to the individual author, but topics covered may include fertility (including attempts to promote fertility, infertility, and fertility control), pregnancy and birth, the post-partum period, and/or infant care and feeding. Each chapter will provide an overview for readers of the key issues, problems, questions, methodologies, and debates in the field. If/when appropriate, each chapter also will survey the available primary sources and discuss a sample of these sources. This volume focuses on the century from 1765 to 1860; scholars who propose chapters centering comparative and transnational history and engaging with the Global South are particularly welcome.  If a proposal is accepted, completed chapters of between 8,000 and 10,000 words will be due on November 1, 2023.

Interested authors should submit short proposals of 500 words and a CV by April 1, 2023 to Cara Delay, the series and volume editor for Bloomsbury's A Cultural History of Pregnancy and Childbirth to Cara Delay.