Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births is a book (MIT Press 2021) and internationally touring exhibition.
Both book and exhibition are about how design has influenced human reproduction over the past 150 years to facilitate or prevent our arrival into the world.
The project showcases nearly 300 items, both historical and contemporary, involved in the arc of human reproduction, ranging from menstrual cups, breast pumps, and baby monitors to medical tools and maternity clothing. It explores objects and processes through a variety of fields: art, photography, product design, posters, advertisements, fashion, and architecture, with a selection emerging from various cultural and geographical backgrounds.
While being born is a universal human experience, the designs that shape it are not.
Designing Motherhood invites you to consider why and how we have developed designs to facilitate reproductive health, and to ponder the political, economic, and social implications of how we medicalize reproduction.