Birth: breaking the boundary of the self

There seems to be a distinct lack of images of birth within the Western canon. Instead, we find an abundance of idealised female nudes, a scattering of pregnant portraits mostly painted by artist husbands, and depictions of Madonna and child, either expectant or cradling an infant. The most famous painting of birth is of course the questionably titled The Birth of Venus, a painting so visually removed from the subject that it depicts an adult woman standing in a shell. When it comes to works that actually show the moment of birth there appear to be few to none. I have, however, previously encountered a black and white photographic artwork showing birth, one that depicts a woman joyous in a moment of crowning: Terese in Ecstatic Birth, Hermione Wiltshire (2008). She is surrounded by at least three others in support, on a bed of carpets, clearly not in a medical setting. I was introduced to this piece at the Birth Rites Summer School in 2022 where I was anecdotally told by the curator Helen Knowles that the piece had experienced frequent censorship, in particular in educational settings. The work was deemed too extreme, and had the potential to offend and disturb staff around the campus. Was it the joy experienced by the woman giving birth that was so subversive and offensive? Or is it the antiquated taboo of childbirth that an audience still finds too uncomfortable?