All three religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism,

hold very dear the notion that human fertility

and in particular children are gifts from God.

Hello, I'm Neil McGregor, and in this series of podcasts,

I'm looking at objects to see how shared beliefs help shape societies

and how individuals take their place in a larger community.

In this episode, The Perils of Birth.

This is the BBC.

As you come out of Whitehall into Parliament Square, you have the classic view of British politics. On the left,

the soaring structures of the Palace of Westminster with the iconic Tower of Big Ben and on the right,

Westminster Abbey, the religious and the political heart of the British state. Nestling modestly

between the two is a building which is not dedicated to the exercise or the

display of power. St Margaret's Church. St Margaret's does, however, share one important purpose

with its two grand neighbours. People look to it for protection, along with 200 other churches

around the country,

this is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch,

patron saint of women in childbirth.

In our last program, we looked at community's concern with death.

There, the focus is upon one person leaving this life.

With childbirth, there are two lives at stake, that of a mother and an infant.

And woven into the fabric of every society and every religion is a deep concern with this

critical moment for a woman, for a family and for a whole community.

...