Society for the Study of Pregnancy & Birth
The Society for the Study of Pregnancy & Birth (SSPRB) provides scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences with an intellectual hub through which they can access academic resources on pregnancy and birth within their fields, as well as list their own work and network with other academics, researchers, independent scholars and students who are involved in specialized research on pregnancy and birth.
The topics of pregnancy and birth are broad and intersect with fields such as anthropology, art history, ethnic studies, history, literature, midwifery, motherhood studies, philosophy, psychology, religious studies and sociology, among many other areas. Themes of pregnancy, natality, rebirth, genesis, physiological birth, and symbolic pregnancy and birth, as well as abstract or cosmological pregnancy and birth, are all relevant to the study of pregnancy and birth.
The academic study of death has historically overshadowed the study of birth, and those who work on birth in the arts, humanities, and social sciences often need more resources, community, publishing and networking possibilities, and grant opportunities specific to their areas since the topics of pregnancy and birth are still marginalized within their disciplines. The Society for the Study of Pregnancy & Birth provides intellectual support and community to those who research these topics in the academic sphere.
The Society, which holds symposia (in-person or virtual) that highlight research on pregnancy and birth taking place across fields in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, also publishes symposia abstracts as Society for the Study of Pregnancy & Birth Proceedings of Symposia, a peer-reviewed open access online publication that provides readers with innovative work on birth taking place across an array of disciplines, or works with the institutions in which it collaborates to have the abstracts published through the institutions. These publications offer scholars working across different intellectual dimensions of the study of pregnancy and birth an opportunity to publish their research in a publication devoted to the topics.
We are excited to welcome any suggestions related to publications, conferences, events, or new research conducted in the study of pregnancy and birth. Please see our contact page for more information on how to reach us.
Anna M. Hennessey, PhD
Founder and Director
Society for the Study of Pregnancy & Birth
San Francisco, CA
December 2023
Gallery Images Above (left to right): Hubble Sees Pinwheel Star Birth, Copyright NASA Goddard Photo and Video, licensed under CC BY 2.0; Ancient relief from the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Egypt, Cairo Museum, All Rights Reserved. Mother Giving Birth, Copyright 1997, Silas Kayakjuak, All Rights Reserved; Water Bubbles Under the Sea, Copyright 2013, Pixabay via Pixels, licensed under CC0; Pregnant Woman, Copyright 1991, Xicu Cabanyes. All Rights Reserved.
Society for the Study of Pregnancy and Birth (SSPRB)