The Politics of Birth

by Sheila Kitzinger

One way of looking at birth is to see it entirely in terms of biology - how the reproductive process works in the human body. Another is to assess risk - examine what might go wrong in physiological mechanisms, and describe methods of preventing and treating malfunction. But to understand how women experience birth it has to be seen in its social the way in which people interact, the meanings that events have for them, and the relationships between all those involved - the social construction of reality.

The Politics of Birth explores ways in which we learn about birth, how we talk and feel about it, assumptions that professional caregivers may make, and the roles and skills of midwives. Topics include home birth and water birth; the use of drugs in childbirth; obstetric and nursing interventions which are often used routinely; Caesarean sections; pressures that care-givers are under, and the choices presented to women that are more apparent than real. Throughout, the author draws on research-based evidence to present both an holistic yet grounded examination of topical issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth.

This is not a "how to" book. The aim of The Politics of Birth is to help the reader develop deeper insight and understanding of how a technocratic birth culture shapes our ideas about birth and obstetric practice.

This book is for everybody who wants to understand and improve the technocratic culture

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Sheila Kitzinger M.B.E, M.Litt is a social anthropologist of birth and author of 24 books published internationally, most on the emotional journey through this major life experience. At Oxford in the 50s she discovered that the social anthropology of that time was almost entirely about men. She decided she would do research to discover what was important in women's lives, and focused on pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
Her five children were all born at home. She lectures widely in different countries and has learned from mothers and midwives in the USA and Canada, the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, South Africa and Japan, and from women in prison and those who have had a traumatic birth experience.

Reviews

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I liked this book, but whenever I read Sheila Kitzinger I get a bit cross. OK so lots of women have negative birth experiences, and lots of those women contact her, but it'd be nice if she acknowledged that it's not all bad, there are women out there who are having good births with dedicated midwives (some of them within the NHS!), but it's the negative stories that reach her ears. Reading this book you would be forgiven for thinking that natural birth is doomed and all midwives are horrible tormentors. So read it, but bear in mind her business is the negatives. Use it to look at birth from an anthropological view point and question your own practice, but remember please that it's not all doom and gloom!

Denis Walsh said recently in an interview that we need to collect positive empowering stories of birth and share them, we underestimate the affect such sharing has on the birth experience... having read Kitzinger I have to agree!