Abstract
Throughout documented history and across cultures childbirth has been memorialized as both mystery and power, and those who attended women giving birth, mostly midwives, have been both revered and feared (Ehrenreich & English, 2010). It is only relatively recently that childbirth has been made public, its mysteries exposed through media and technologies like ultrasound and men have been permitted to enter the birth space. In many countries around the world midwives have been usurped as lead care providers at birth with a concerted attempt to eradicate them in some places; and this continues even today (Clifford, 2019; Greenfield, 2019).
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Routledge International Handbook of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health |
Editors | Jane M. Ussher, Joan C. Chrisler, Janette Perz |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 332-345 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781351035620 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781138490260 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- Aboriginal Australians
- childbirth
- maternal health services
- midwives
- women