Pregnant Women and Pregnant Ladies: A Comparative Analysis of Pregnancy as a Classed Experience in England, c.1870-1918

维多利亚晚期和爱德华时代英国的怀孕经历深受妇女阶级地位的影响。在人们的焦虑中，怀孕在人们对成为女性的期望中占据了首位，但阶级特权和偏见是不可让步的。在这些十字路口，出现了对怀孕的不同做法和理解。家庭和经济压力使工薪阶层妇女别无选择，只能在整个怀孕期间不知疲倦地工作，使她们筋疲力尽、疾病和营养不良。直到1911年发放了一小笔产假津贴，这些妇女才得到任何支持--国家和社会都纵容工人阶级怀孕的风险、困难和创伤。然而，中产阶级和上层阶级的怀孕看起来完全不同。由于可以获得产前医疗护理，这些怀孕的特点是休息、温和运动和为优化母婴健康而量身定做的饮食。这些鲜明的对比表明，阶级对这一时期的女性产生了强大的话语影响。不同阶层的女性对怀孕的习惯和期望是不同的，但不同阶层的女性对怀孕的概念又有何不同呢？他们是内化还是抵制这些规范？他们的阶级地位是如何表现的，特别是怀孕的心理和身体经历？通过承认孕妇是历史代理人并赋予她们特权，对她们自传的分析可以回答这些问题。将这种分析与残疾史学相结合，可以发现所有阶层的妇女都认为自己的怀孕身体是残疾的。过度劳累往往使工薪阶层妇女在怀孕期间丧失工作能力，使她们无法履行对家庭的职责。与此同时，健康建议文献要求上层社会的孕妇休息和隐居。残疾理论阐明了特定阶级经历产生的共同情绪，使我们对这一时期怀孕的理解复杂化。

Experiences of pregnancy in late-Victorian and Edwardian England were profoundly influenced by the woman's class position. Amidst population anxieties, pregnancy assumed primacy in expectations of womanhood, yet class privileges and prejudices were unyielding. At these intersections, different practices and understandings of pregnancy emerged. Familial and financial pressures left working-class women with no choice but to work tirelessly throughout pregnancy, subjecting them to exhaustion, illness, and malnutrition. Until a small maternity allowance was granted in 1911, these women received no support -- both State and society condoned the risks, hardships, and traumas of working-class pregnancy. Middle- and upper-class pregnancies, however, looked entirely different. With access to antenatal medical care, these pregnancies were characterised by rest, gentle exercise, and diets tailored to optimise mother and baby's health. These stark contrasts expose class as a powerful discursive influence upon womanhood in this period. Practices and expectations of pregnancy differed along a spectrum of class, but how did women of different classes conceptualise pregnancy differently? Did they internalise or resist these norms? How did their class status manifest in particular psychological and bodily experiences of pregnancy? By recognising pregnant women as historical agents and privileging their perspectives, analyses of their autobiographies can answer these questions.Nuancing this analysis with disability historiography reveals that women of all class strata perceived their pregnant bodies as disabled. Overexertion often incapacitated working-class women during pregnancy, disabling them in their duties to their families. Meanwhile, health advice literature mandated rest and seclusion for upper-class pregnancies. Disability theory elucidates the common sentiments produced by class-specific experiences, complicating our understanding of pregnancy in this period.