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Giving birth in Volos, Greece

Medicalisation, Ritual and Emerging Alternatives

Bibliographic Data

ID3157985
AuthorsMyrto Chronaki (0009-0004-5619-4753, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume16
Issue8
Pages909-930
Publication date2015-11-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2015.1040058
OpenAlexW1781021594
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited24

The paper examines the relationship of space with obstetric practices and its role in the medicalisation of childbirth in a case study of the two maternity clinics of a provincial town in Greece. Typical birth care procedures in Volos were observed to act as rituals to define childbirth as a medical crisis and to transmit the message of superiority and necessity of medicine and technology in childbirth. The arrangements and uses of birth spaces made possible the application of the technomedical model with its high rate of obstetric interventions, while they supported and solidified its symbolic meanings. However, in the current economic and social crisis, these established practices are being challenged and alternative paradigms of birth care are being formed. Their interaction with existing spaces in maternity clinics and at home and the changes they required or caused are offering possibilities for new conceptualisations of birth, birth care and women's transition to maternity

Childbirth · Health care · Home birth · Maternity care · Medical care · Political science · Pregnancy · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Medicine · Nursing

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Unique citing works1
Citations per year1
Citation span2025 - 2025 (1)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1
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