The Lingering Presence of Medical Definitions Among Women Committed to Natural Childbirth

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2366464
AutoresM A Monto (0000-0002-2946-8745, autor de correspondencia)
Año1997
Volumen26
Número3
Páginas293-316
Fecha de publicación1997-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Contemporary Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0891-2416 • E-ISSN: 1552-5414
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/089124197026003002
OpenAlexW2160784300
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas25

The controversies that surround childbirth in the United States reflect competing understandings and competing definitions of situations. This article explores episodes in which dominant medical understandings of childbirth were communicated to women who sought to resist them during pregnancy, labor, and the first several weeks post-partum. Thirty-one women were interviewed three times each, twice before and once after delivery, although the focus is largely on the experience of fourteen who sought to give birth in unconventional ways. The author argues that the conflict over definitions of childbirth reflects larger cultural oppositions. The decisions that people make regarding childbirth serve to reinforce either dominant definitions or their alternatives and may be seen as part of cultural contest, the outcome of which will shape society

Childbirth · CONTEST · Natural (archaeology · Natural childbirth · Obstetrics · Political science · Pregnancy · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Psychology