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Natural mothers: teaching morals and parent-craft in Italy, 1945–60

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Stefania Bernini
Stefania Bernini*
Affiliation:
History Department, Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA. Telephone: 01908274066. E-mail: s.b.bernini@open.ac.uk
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Summary

At the end of the Second World War, politicians and social observers apprehensively considered the condition of the family and its destiny and role in post-war Italy. As well as informing political discourses and sociological examinations, the family became a privileged terrain for medical and psychological enquiry, with particular attention given to parenthood and the maternal role of women. The article explores the role played by religious and medical authorities in shaping narratives of parental responsibilities during the post-war years. The interplay of biology and morality in medical discourse and Catholic teaching is discussed in the context of debates about motherhood and the management of childbirth. Particular attention is given to discussions about the use of pain relief in labour and the reception by Italian Catholic gynaecologists of the so-called ‘natural childbirth method’, advocated during the post-war period by a number of European and American practitioners.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 9 , Issue 1: Special Issue: gender and the private sphere in Italy since 1945 , May 2004 , pp. 21 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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References

Notes

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