Kōrero: Pregnancy, birth and baby care

Pregnant woman, 1894 (1 o 3)

Pregnant woman, 1894

Throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century pregnancy was purposefully concealed by clothing. This is mother of 11 Elizabeth Shewry in a horse-riding habit just before the birth of a son in 1894. She is wearing a tightly laced corset and heavy, restrictive clothes. The combination of the corset and long voluminous skirt conceals her pregnancy from the viewer. Doctors disapproved of the wearing of corsets during pregnancy, but for most women social conventions and expectations were too strong to be ignored.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-151314-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Kerryn Pollock, 'Pregnancy, birth and baby care - Pregnancy attitudes, rituals and clothing', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/26159/pregnant-woman-1894 (accessed 19 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Kerryn Pollock, i tāngia i te 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 24 Oct 2018