UCLA Library

Instituted in 1749, the British Lying-In Hospital served as a charity hospital for married pregnant women. Existing analysis of lying-in hospitals in Britain emphasizes the history of midwifery. This project approaches the subject from a different angle, centering the patients instead of the medical staff. The project focuses on an account book from the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library that lists the hospital’s income and expenses from 1767 to 1782. Analysis of this archival source reveals the hospital’s regulatory power over the poor. This regulation enforced the distinction between deserving and undeserving poor inside and outside the hospital walls.