Expecting: Birth, Belief and Protection at London’s Wellcome Collection is a small but quietly powerful exhibition. Spanning five centuries, it explores how the experience of bringing life into the world has been shaped as much by hope and uncertainty as by medicine. Medieval objects sit alongside contemporary artworks, revealing how ideas about reproduction – and the need to safeguard it – have evolved over time.
On entering the exhibition, visitors are immersed in the world of the late medieval birthing chamber. The first exhibit is an exquisitely painted wooden panel dated to the 15th or 16th century. The scene it shows is intimate, both in scale and nature. Within the sumptuously decorated bedchamber of a wealthy Italian home, a new mother sits upright in a canopied bed. Around her, women tend to her and her baby. Each of the nine female attendants has a specialised role, their outstretched arms and gesturing fingers signalling their productivity and authority within the space.
One woman, sleeves rolled up, tests the water being prepared for the baby’s bath. Close by, another cradles the child in her arms. Two others attempt to dry linen by a blazing fire. The space is one of women’s collaboration and knowledge.
