As the nation marks Mother’s Day next weekend, mothers in Worcester are invited to come forward and tell their stories as part of a new historical project.
University of Worcester historian Dr Anna Muggeridge and the George Marshall Medical Museum in Worcester have joined forces on a project called ‘Birthing Stories’.
It seeks to capture the memories of mothers who gave birth in the City over the last 75 years.
“We’ll be starting in the 2020s, so quite interesting ones around COVID and experiences there, but moving back through the decades we’ll go back as far as feasibly possible,” said Dr Muggeridge. “We’re aiming to tell the story of birth in Worcester and how that shifts and changes over time.”
Organisers are hoping to gather at least two oral histories (audio recordings) for each decade from the 1950s onwards of people’s experiences of giving birth and pregnancy in Worcester. Ahead of the project launch, organisers are looking to sign people up to share their story at a Reminiscence Day on Monday, April 14 held outside The Infirmary Museum on the University’s City Campus. The drop-in event, running 10am-4pm, will feature objects related to obstetrics and gynaecological care over time, fun activities and a talk from Dr Muggeridge on the history of maternity care in the 20th century at 11am. Further sessions may follow depending on demand.
The work to gather and record these stories will formally launch in September and should take around a year. Those involved will talk in conversation with a trained interviewer, and the oral histories will be catalogued and kept in the archive at the George Marshall Medical Museum and used in exhibitions. Once collected, there will be a series of celebration events and displays across the city’s venues featuring quotes and clips from those who shared their stories. Organisers are looking for volunteers to help with the project, which could include transcribing interviews or helping at future reminiscence events. There will be the opportunity to find out more about this important work on April 14.
Louise Price, Curator of the George Marshall Medical Museum, said: “Working with Dr Muggeridge, we’re grateful for this opportunity to begin capturing the stories of Worcester mothers and their memories of giving birth over the last 75 years. From active labour that lasted hours to just minutes, from home births to hospital beds, and everything in between, there will be memories of love and with humour, and those of loss and even trauma. We will work together to ensure we are able to save these stories in the museum’s archive.”
Dr Muggeridge added: “People might want to share their story, but might not think that we would be interested. We are interested in all of the stories, positive and negative. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first child or 10th child, if you had children via IVF or conceived naturally, we want to collect all of the stories.”
The oral history project is also part of a wider ‘Voices of Motherhood’ study launched by Dr Muggeridge last year which looks at the ways in which women have been politicised by their experiences of fertility, pregnancy, birth and caring for children through early childhood from the start of the First World War in 1914 through to the present day. She was awarded more than £500,000 in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of its Future Leaders Fellowship programme to undertake this research.
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