Marland, Hilary. (2003) Disappointment and desolation : women, doctors and interpretations of puerperal insanity in the nineteenth century. History of Psychiatry, Vol.14 (No.3). pp. 303-320. ISSN 0957-154X

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Abstract

Taking case notes as the key source, this paper focuses on the variety of interpretations put forward by doctors to explain the incidence of puerperal insanity in the nineteenth century. It is argued that these went far beyond biological explanations linking female vulnerability to the particular crisis of reproduction. Rather, nineteenth-century physicians were looking at other factors to explain the onset of insanity related to childbirth: stress and environmental factors linked to poverty, family circumstances, poor nutrition, illegitimacy, fear and anxiety, and the strains of becoming a mother. The main focus is on female asylum patients, but all mothers were seen as being susceptible to puerperal insanity.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History Faculty of Arts > History > Centre for the History of Medicine
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Puerperal psychoses -- History -- 19th century, Puerperal psychoses -- Diagnosis -- History -- 19th century
Journal or Publication Title:	History of Psychiatry
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	0957-154X
Date:	September 2003
Volume:	Vol.14
Number:	No.3
Number of Pages:	18
Page Range:	pp. 303-320
Identification Number:	10.1177/0957154X030143003
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Version or Related Resource:	Paper presented at: 6th Hannah Conference on the History of Medicine, Toronto, Canada, April 2001.
Conference Paper Type:	Paper
Type of Event:	Conference
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/9192

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