Birth as an American Rite of Passage

by Robbie Davis-Floyd

Overview

This classic book, first published in 1992 and again in 2003, has inspired three generations of childbearing people, birth activists and researchers, and birth practitioners—midwives, doulas, nurses, and obstetricians—to take a fresh look at the "standard procedures" that are routinely used to "manage" American childbirth. It was the first book to identify these non-evidence-based obstetric interventions as rituals that enact and transmit the core values of the American technocracy, thereby answering the pressing question of why these interventions continue to be performed despite all evidence to the contrary. This third edition brings together Davis-Floyd's insights into the intense ritualization of labor and birth and the technocratic, humanistic, and holistic models of birth with new data collected in recent years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367431297
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/06/2022
Series:	Social Science Perspectives on Childbirth and Reproduction
Pages:	442
Sales rank:	292,862
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Robbie Davis-Floyd, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, and a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology. She is a well-known medical/interpretive/reproductive anthropologist, international speaker, and researcher in transformational models in childbirth, midwifery, obstetrics, and reproduction.

Table of Contents

Author‘s Note about the Cover Images, Dedication, Figure, Tables, Acknowledgments, Preface to the Third Edition, Introduction: Birth as a Rite of Passage, 1. Ritual and Rite, 2. The Stages of Matrescence: The Pregnancy/Childbirth/Postpartum Rite of Passage, 3. The Industrial and Technocratic Models of Birth and Health Care, 4. The Humanistic Model of Birth and Health Care, 5. Birth Messages in the Hospital, 6. How the Messages Are Received: The Spectrum of Response, 7. Scars into Stars: The Reinterpretation of the Childbirth Experience, 8. The Holistic Model of Birth and Health Care, 9. Birth Messages at Home: Homebirth as Holistic Ideology in Action,10. Technocracy in Birth and Life: Some Ritual and Political Implications for the Future, 11. Holism in Birth and Life: Some Ritual and Political Implications for the Future, Conclusion: Birth as an American Rite of Passage, References, Index

Editorial Reviews

"A magnificent contribution to our understanding of birthing in this country." Emily Martin, author of The Woman in the Body

"Davis-Floyd is a respectful listener who has encouraged her subjects to speak honestly about a complex experience. Consequently, even skeptical readers of the fascinating stories she has gathered should be prompted to reflect on the meaning of their own or their partners' experience of birth … I admire, without reservation, the generous, critical, passionate spirit that animates this book." Sara Ruddick, New York Times Book Review

"Davis-Floyd has done an excellent job of demonstrating the linkages between American core values concerning technology and scientific expertise and prevailing obstetric practices. I especially value her use of women's voices to convey the essence of their delivery experiences." Carolyn Sargent, author of Maternity, Medicine, and Power

From the Publisher