On the Margins of the Periphery

Unassisted Childbirth and the Management of Layered Stigma

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2155443
AutoresAmy Chasteen Miller (0000-0001-5634-9699), Amy Miller (0000-0002-8549-5158, University of Southern Mississippi, autor correspondente)
Ano2012
Volume32
Fascículo5
Páginas406-423
Data de publicação2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSociological Spectrum (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0273-2173 • E-ISSN: 1521-0707
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02732173.2012.694795
OpenAlexW2110868895
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas20

This article examines an unusual practice—unassisted childbirth—and the ways in which advocates and practitioners manage the stigma they are accorded. Given their “doubly deviant” status as not only women who birth at home but also as women who choose to give birth without professional assistance, these women provide a unique case for our theoretical understanding of stigma management. As members of homebirth social networks, the women must reckon with what I term layered stigma, the broad stigma of homebirth as well as the deeper in-group stigma within their deviant community that results from their rejection of midwives as appropriate care providers. By examining the dynamics of stigma management among practitioners of unassisted childbirth, I highlight the complex, situation-dependent nature of stigma and the impact of its management on women's sense of self

Childbirth · Family medicine · Pregnancy · Psychiatry · Social stigma · Emotional Labor in Professions · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology