Recentering the Voices of Birthing People and Birth Workers; Narratives of Childbirth Pubblico
McGrath, Natalie (Spring 2023)
Abstract
Childbirth is a universal life event and yet, when looked at across cultures and demographics, it is incredibly diverse in its characteristics. Although we know this to be true, the childbirth experience is drastically under-researched within the larger umbrella of human experience. In addition, the presence and/or absence of agency throughout the childbirth experience is rarely studied within academia and is relatively absent in anthropological research. Rather, when engaged in a research setting, childbirth is approached with the intention of uncovering quantitative information, ranging from the rate of C-sections within a particular hospital to the number of patients who have an epidural; rarely are the narratives or socio- behavioral aspects of the childbirth experience investigated or discussed within academia. This study directs attention toward the voices of birthing-people and midwives in order to reject the purely medical context from which childbirth is most often approached. Through interviews with thirteen birthing-people and five birth workers, this study illuminates how the event of childbirth is understood and experienced differently depending on culture, context, and one’s racial and/or ethnic identity. The research uncovers the ways in which a birthing-person’s sense of agency during labor is instrumental to their health and well-being – and how agency can arise or be thwarted based on myriad factors. It also looks at how birth workers can, and do, play an important role in advocating for and centering the agency of the birthing- person. Lastly, this study identifies how pain, anxiety, and fear are expressed, or sublimated, during childbirth, and the ways in which agency promotion can improve a birthing-person’s level of comfort and emotional well-being throughout labor. The outcomes of this study suggest that it would be beneficial to consider agency as an appropriate focal metric of justice, specifically within the context of the childbirth experience within the United States. If the goal is to improve agency among birthing-people, accessibility, and the freedom to attain essential resources like prenatal appointments, hospital translators, and community/familial support, must be addressed.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction …………………………………………………………………….....1
Chapter Two: Literature Review …………………………………………………………….......4
Working Definition of Agency…………………………………………………………….4
The Role of Agency and Control During Childbirth ………………………………...5
The Medicalization of Childbirth ……………………………………………………….11
Childbirth From a Cross-Cultural Perspective……………………………………….15
Labor Pain ………………………………………………………………………………..... 20
Chapter Three: Methods ……………………………………………………………………….....27
Chapter Four: Findings Among Birthing People ……………………………………….......34
How Agency is Experienced by the Birthing Person…………………………………35
How Agency is Inhibited in the Birthing Person……………………………………..55
Chapter Five: Findings Among Birth Workers……………………………………………......63
Chapter Six: Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….......79
Chapter Seven: Discussion …………………………………………………………………….....83
Limitations ……………………………………………………………………………........83
Accessibility Concerns …………………………………………………………………....84
Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………...84
Conclusionary Remarks …………………………………………………………………..86
Appendix I ………………………………………………………………………………..............87
Appendix II ……………………………………………………………………………................90
Appendix III ……………………………………………………………………………...............92
References………………………………………………………………………………...............93
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