 |  | | | Depression and childbirth in the 19th century | 21 July 2004 | | |
Why did the Victorians fear that childbirth could lead to insanity?
Childbirth and motherhood was feared by many women during the Victorian era. Puerperal insanity, a temporary psychiatric condition seemingly triggered by childbirth, could affect any woman rendering them temporarily insane and in the worse cases, could lead to infanticide.
However, the Victorians' attitudes to women with the condition was surprising. The emphasis for treatment was on rest, a healthy diet and removal from the root causes of stress, with the ultimate aim of restoring the women to their rightful place in Victorian society, as mothers and homemakers.
Sian Busby, author of The Cruel Mother, tells the story of her great-grandmother who was sent to Broadmoor in 1919 for the murder of her twins. Sian herself had postnatal depression and feared that she may have inherited her great grandmother's mental illness and Dr Hilary Marland author of Dangerous Motherhood traces the history of puerperal insanity throughout the19th century.
Professor Jill Wainscott, who runs a mother and baby unit specialising in treating women with mental health problems during pregnancy and in the baby's first year, talks about the the link between childbirth and mental illness.
More information from the BBC Actionline on 0800 044 044
Sian Busby's book The Cruel Mother is published by Short Books and Hilary Marland's Dangerous Motherhood is published by Palgrave Macmillan
National%20Childbirth%20Trust
BBC Health: Postnatal depression
RCP: Postnatal mental healthDisclaimer
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