Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births

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Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births

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A first-of-its-kind consideration of the arc of human reproduction through the lens of design, Designing Motherhood is a book, exhibition, a StoryBank oral history project, and a series of public programs in collaboration with Maternity Care Coalition.

05/29/2026

These beautiful porcelain works by artist Ann Agee () make our hearts soar.

Thanks to the wonderful team at for introducing us to them this week on a visit to Wisconsin where Agee will have a major retrospective exhibition in 2027.

Agee smartly references the history of porcelain decorative figurines but instead of depicting pastoral scenes, she shows us the quotidian moments and joys of her own daily life that might otherwise go unseen and unremarked.

This includes the birth of her own children, Lucia and Emilio, from the early 2000s, madonna figures from 2020-21, a birth class (so good!!), and a carer carrying an infant from the 1990s.

We also got a sneak peek of some of the other works that will be on display -- we can't share pictures here so you'll just have to go see the exhibition!

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The earlier images here are courtesy P.P.O.W Gallery and the latter are from the collection website at PAFA in Philly 🙏

05/26/2026

She's almost five years old ...

Published in September 2021, the DM book remains a project of which we're hugely proud. It reflects the stories, voices, histories, ideas, urgencies, joy, and pain across the arc of human reproduction through chapters that focus on one hundred designed objects, systems, and ideas.

We are so lucky that it is home to a host of stellar contributors. Designed by the wonderful Natasha Chandani and Lana Cavar of .

Available from all good bookstores near you. We're always grateful when folks spot our book out in the wild and tell us, or send a copy to a friend ❤️

05/25/2026

"Evening Bath," 2026 by .

👌

05/23/2026

There's a lot to unpack here ... too much for an Instagram caption. (For further reading, look at the beautifully written chapter -- thanks Amber! -- on home birth in the DM book).

This account of a home birth was made in 1968 at a moment in time many that many birthing people wanted to reclaim their birth experiences from medical spaces where they were not listened to and weren't given agency.

The concurrent narrative present in this story is of the whiteness of US hippiedom where class and race privilege often made it easier to escape the yoke of inadequate systems and institutions, medical or otherwise (and often appropriate iconography from other cultures while doing so – in this case, from India).

It's also possible to see this as foreshadowing the separate-yet-overlapping current and controversial "free birth" movement.

The notion of childbirth as "natural" presented here is as dogmatic as its overmedicalization. It's the first image we've seen of a ma*****na pipe during labor for pain!

The photography in the book is absolutely gorgeous – but there's a moment of pause as one realizes both author and photographer are men. The story is being told from the perspective of a birth partner (which is such an important perspective to have!) but yet it is visually depicting a deeply intimate moment with a lens trained closely on a woman and her baby.

And yet, for the authors (and, one assumes, the mother whose consent was given to make the book), this is the point.

Scroll to the last slide for a persuasive argument as to why birth should be far more visible for everybody. After all, everybody on earth experiences it at least once, yet it remains very far from public view.

That has changed somewhat since 1968. Some of the images here remind us of the wonderful photographs by Heji Shin of babies crowning which were included in the 2019 Whitney Biennial.

Overall, the book is a fascinating historical document that needs very careful reading. We're glad to have it on our bookshelf as part of a much wider pantheon of the many different ways in which birth has been depicted over decades and centuries and millennia.

05/17/2026

Ni**le shields but make 'em nutty ...

cc -- we included Silverettes in the DM book and have had ni**le shields in a range of materials, including wood, metal, glass, and lead (!), in the DM exhibitions. This Belgian pair in the collection of Dr. Agnés Tondreau-Versailles were the first walnuts we've ever spied! 🌰 🥜

05/16/2026

OK, we're having a lot of fun asking you to guess the purpose of some of the objects we found while on the research trip to Belgium.

We have just a few more – some fun, others a bit heavier in context, topic or nature. Here is the next one – a ceramic from the 19th century.

Hint: This one is spiritually related to our previous post. Any guesses as to what this object is for?

05/15/2026

Since everyone had such a good time guessing the purpose of the elegant glass breast pump, how about we do the same here – does anyone know what this object was used for?

We found several across collections in Belgium, and we will definitely be including it and some other contextual objects in next year's exhibition. It was new to us as the US curators but our Belgian counterparts knew about it and could point to some vigorous discussions about its history.

Hint: Belgium has some deep Catholic roots.

We will update the caption tomorrow with the correct identification but for now, give us your best guess in the comments! :-)

05/14/2026

Thanks to everyone who took a guess on our last post – so many of you guessed correctly, this wonderfully-shaped handblown glass form is for self-expressing breastmilk.

Here is Michelle demonstrating its position, with the glass bowl over the ni**le like a fl**ge, and then the glass neck extending so that the suction could be provided by the lips.

it's one of many marvelous objects in the collection of Dr. Agnés Tondreau-Versailles here in Ghent who so graciously welcomed us yesterday and allowed us to look through parts of her archive. Some of these objects will be on display next year, we hope.

we loved this form so much and wondered if any contemporary glassmaker has ever taken it on?

It's almost time to head to the airport. It's been wonderful researching here these past few days and we are deeply grateful to our brilliant hosts.

Because we are an independent project, we are lucky to be able to choose who we partner with on this project and so it's always a bright and energetic collaboration, and certainly here in Belgium. Thank you to the advisors, everybody who came out to the public program, and most especially to the DMG team and Bieke. You're the best and we are so excited to be back for the opening next year ... and all the zooms in between :-)

05/13/2026

Can anyone guess what this object is? We got to visit a great private collection of medical designs in Ghent today as part of our research for the DM exhibition coming to Belgium this time next year.

We saw this lying on its side in a case and were immediately intrigued. Handblown glass for a very practical purpose -- a perfect blend of craft and design!

Let us know in the comments if you recognize how it might be used, and we will share some more pictures in our next post … :-)

Address

304 Pearl Street
Providence, RI

Website

http://designingmotherhood.org/

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