Emergency baptism and stillbirth in early modern Sweden

What is it about?

This article addresses stillbirth in early modern Lutheran Sweden by examining the interplay between religious and medical birth practices and fetal and infant concepts and imagery. The history of birth intervention is shaped by the difficult negotiations involved in saving both mother and child in obstructed and complicated delivery. This article examines the specific concerns related to emergency baptism and salvation in this historical context, and the effects it had to birth practises and to valuations of the unborn. The results suggest that the emphasis in Lutheran contexts on explicit life signs, in combination with the acceptance of divine intervention in cases of unavoidable infant loss, was a mental framework that encouraged essentially utilitarian solutions and arguments.

Featured Image

Photo by Alex Hockett on Unsplash

Photo by Alex Hockett on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Obstructed birth represents the ultimate conflict of aims. Saving the lives and restoring the health of both mother and child may not always be possible in obstetric emergencies, and birth practitioners have to quickly make difficult decisions in uncertain knowledge situations, based both on available medical technologies and methods and imagined survival prospects of the persons involved. The particular limitations, concerns, and possibilities that framed birth intervention in early modern Lutheran Sweden reveal the complex interplay between medicine and religion at the borders of life, and shed light on the development of early modern obstetrical knowledge and practises, as well as timeless questions related to fetal and infant loss and the maternal-infant relationship.