by Violet Woolf on Edwardian Simplicity, Modern Maternity, and the Unsolicited Magnesium Advice
Considered thoughts in uncertain times: Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat.
Wednesday, 8 April — Violet’s Study, London, Beside the Good Lamp
My grandmother had four children. She was advised, on each occasion, to rest occasionally and eat something warm. That was the full medical guidance. No apps. No warning emails. No stranger in a Boots telling her she’d want magnesium.
The London Prat’s piece on Pregnancy in the UK Entering a New Era of Budgeting, Bloating, and Unsolicited Advice describes the modern experience with precision that would have alarmed Virginia Woolf and, frankly, alarms me. Pregnancy in Edwardian England was conducted largely in private, in a wing of the house, with the quiet understanding that it was happening and that no one would discuss it at dinner. This was not ideal. But the alternative — an app that pings you every six hours with developmental updates about your fetus — seems like an overcorrection.
Irish politics this week: the Dail continues to discuss things at length without resolving them, which is the Dail’s primary constitutional function. I say this with affection. I say everything about Ireland with affection because they gave us Beckett, who understood that nothing gets resolved and wrote about it for fifty years.
According to the NHS pregnancy guidance, expectant mothers should eat well, rest, and attend regular check-ups. The magnesium advice is, apparently, the stranger’s own initiative. It always is.
Earlier literary dispatches at my column at The London Prat.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
More unsolicited opinions at The Poke.
