Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution in 19th century Europe brought about widespread changes throughout the various countries. New and innovative ways for working helped shuffle in these changes and new ideals. Two aspects of this revolution that  I would like to focus on are birth control and anesthesia for childbirth. Birth control was something new that came about in the 19th century. People were not as keen on having large families, and as a result, new forms of birth control developed. Instead of the old practice of simply abstaining, there were now ways to still have sex, but at the same time reduce the chance of getting pregnant. Although these methods were not as advanced as the ones we have today, they still helped keep unwanted pregnancies from happening. I think this was a good thing because an unwanted child put the woman in a hard place and could have led to infanticide, which was a whole other issue during this time period. This gave women more control over their own body and let even a married couple control their family. The other new aspect that I thought was interesting about this time period was the use of anesthesia during childbirth. Now it was not like today where the women was simply given a drug that allowed her to still be coherent just without the pain. It was more of just take away the pain. For example, Queen Victoria  was given chloroform during childbirth, which essentially made her unconscious. I think this introduction was an important step because it shows that people began to care about the pain that almost every woman had to go through at least once. Women now had the option of relieving some of the pain, and once again, it gave them more control over their lives. In general, I think the Industrial Revolution brought about many things for women, the majority of which made life easier for them and gave them more control over their lives.