Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy

Griffith College Dublin

Project Statement:

A Midwifery of Darker Times

Working with archival material, historical medical objects and personal testimonies, this research-based project examines the historical practice of symphysiotomy and pubiotomy in Irish hospitals from the 1940s to 1980s. The series analyses the circumstances in which the surgeries were carried out and the life-changing effects they had on women. 

The procedure, performed before and sometimes after childbirth on around 1,500 women, involved cutting through the cartilage and ligaments of the pelvic joint (or in severe cases sawing through the pelvis) to aid obstructed labour. It was carried out instead of a safer alternative, a Caesarean section, and usually without the patient’s consent. The practice was an unholy alliance between medical authority and religion.         

Artist Bio:

Originally from Limerick, Elizabeth O’Shaughnessy is an Irish photographic artist based in Dublin. She is currently in the final year of a B.A. in Photographic Media from Griffith College Dublin, having completed a Certificate in Photography & Digital Imaging from the National College of Art and Design in 2019. She also holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Limerick. In 2021, she was nominated for News Photographer of the Year at the Student Media Awards. Elizabeth’s current areas of interest relate to gender, representations of women in visual culture and the construction of history.