Mothercraft, "Clean" Midwifery, and Child Care: "Scientific" Motherhood Advice at Health Exhibitions in Colonial Bengal.

This article examines "scientific" mothercraft child healthcare advice disseminated through public health exhibitions—such as child welfare, baby week, and health week events—in colonial India, with a focus on Bengal, particularly Calcutta. It analyzes how these exhibitions promoted middle-class values and nationalist ideals by educating mothers on child feeding, hygiene, and midwifery, often blending Western medical knowledge with local cultural metaphors, as exemplified by Bengali nationalist doctor Sundari Mohan Das. The study highlights the role of baby shows and scheduled feeding ("mothering by the clock") in public health campaigns aimed at reducing infant mortality, while also addressing debates over "clean" versus "dirty" midwifery and the contested status of traditional midwives (dais). The article argues that engagement with Western medicine in colonial India was not solely a tool of colonial control but also enabled Indian agency and identity formation within nationalist and modernizing projects.