Retelling familiar tales of pregnancy and birth in European cultures: interdisciplinary conference at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 3-4th July 2012

摘要

This conference involved researchers from many countries and many disciplines: midwives, literists, historians of many periods and places, social scientists, drama practitioners and doulas, all tellers of tales.There were lots of contemporary birth stories: modern birth stories as performance, birth stories online and a brilliant German project where midwives are supporting vulnerable mothers and their families. The changing stories of fathers and childbirth in post-war Britain caused much reminiscence amongst the older midwives present and a paper about doulas caused much discussion. There were fascinating historical stories: the pregnancies of Isabel of Castile and Katherine of Aragon and a medieval birth miracle from Catalonia as well as pregnant men and other birth anomalies. There were stories from fiction: birth in 16th century French fiction, feminist retellings of pregnancy and birth experiences in late 19th century Germany and modern Italian children's books presenting the stories of donor conceived children, in pictures.