London, UK
1749-1913
n Georgian England, a new way of giving birth was introduced in an effort to make the process safer and more comfortable for pregnant women. The establishment of lying-in hospitals (lying-in was an antiquated term for childbirth) across the country began in England in the 1740s to improve the quality of maternity care provided for by existing hospitals. The most successful, and one of the five of London’s Georgian lying-in hospitals, was the British Lying-In Hospital which was founded in 1749 by governors at Middlesex Hospital. Built on Brownlow Street in Holborn, the hospital was originally named the Lying-In Hospital for Married Women, and served the poorer women
