Episode
Pregnancy and Childbirth in Ancient Egypt
- Published
- Aug 12, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 4034
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789/episodes/pregnancy-and-childbirth-in-ancient-egypt/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789/pregnancy-and-childbirth-in-ancient-egypt.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Content Warning: Adult themes of sex and sexuality; death and trauma In this podcast episode, we take a deep dive into pregnancy and giving birth in ancient Egypt. How were fertility issues dealt with? How was conception conceptualized? What was the childbirth process like? What role did magical rituals and belief in the gods play? What role did midwives, doctors, wet nurses, and others play in the process? And what can we gain from the experiences of these ancient people today? We ultimately come to understand that ancient Egyptian birth was a private matter that took place in the home, that the baby and mother received the support of intimate and extended family, that the new mother was welcomed back into society with celebrations of her beauty and fecundity, a rite of passage in which community was integral. Indeed, all of this is exactly what pregnant individuals and new parents are missing and seeking out in 2025. We might assume that it is better to be pregnant now than in the ancient world. And in some ways it is— antibiotics, anesthesia, and sonograms save lives everyday. But we also know healthcare access is not equal across race and socio-economic status, governments are defunding care facilities, and a woman’s right to choose are all under threat. To make matters worse, as of a 2023 JAMA study , U.S. pregnancy-related deaths are on a steep uptake since 1999, especially amongst Indigenous and Black communities. The defunding of pregnancy and childbirth-related services, like Planned Parenthood, is one contributing factor. Given that cuts to abortion access are meant to push women back into traditional, shut-in, patriarchal roles, please don’t expect a glorification of the ancient world here. But we can’t laud the modern situation either. Let’s just say that w…