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Summary:

"This book assesses a narrow but vital - and so far understudied - part of Roman women's lives: puberty, preparation for pregnancy, pregnancy and childbirth. Bringing together for the first time the material and textual sources for this key life stage, it describes the scientific, educational, medical and emotional aspects of the journey towards motherhood. The first half of the book considers the situation a Roman girl would find herself in when it came to preparing for children. Sources document the elementary sexual education offered at the time, and society's knowledge of reproductive health. We see how Roman women had recourse to medical advice, but also turned to religion and magic in their preparations for childbirth. The second half of the book follows the different stages of pregnancy and labour. As well as the often-documented examples of joyous expectation and realisation of progeny, there are also family tragedies - young girls dying prematurely, stillbirth, death in childbirth, and death during confinement. Finally, the book considers the social change that childbirth wrought on the mother, not just the new baby - in many ways it was also a mother who was in the process of being conceived and brought into the world"-- [Provided by publisher]

Table of Contents:

• Marriage : the institution that makes one a mother
• Women preparing to be mothers
• Specialized care for the would-be mother
• Pregnancy and its course
• Parturition
• Dies lustricus : the birth of ... a mother?

Author/Creator:

Tatarkiewicz, Anna , author

Contributors:

Jarczyk, Magdalena , translator

Languages:

English
Polish

Language Notes:

Item content: English
Translated from (original): Polish

Main Work:

The 'cursus laborum' of Roman women: social and medical aspects of the transition from puberty to motherhood [by Tatarkiewicz, A.]

Other Related Resources:

Print version: 'cursus laborum' of Roman women [by Tatarkiewicz, A.] (London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2023 — ISBN 9781350337398; ISBN 9781350337435; LCCN 2022046405; OCLC Number 1330196648)

Subjects:

Childbirth — Rome — History

Pregnancy — Rome — History

Reproductive health — Rome — History

Women — Rome — Social conditions

Motherhood — Rome — History

Mothers — Rome — Social conditions

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-236) and index.
Description based on: Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 11, 2023).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 239 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Call Numbers:

RG513 .T38 2023eb

ISBNs:

9781350337411 (electronic bk.)
1350337412 (electronic bk.)
9781350337404 (electronic bk.)
1350337404 (electronic bk.)
9781350337398 (hardback) [Invalid]
1350337390 (hardback) [Invalid]
9781350337435 (paperback) [Invalid]
1350337439 (paperback) [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

1372393139