18. An Ideal of Unassisted Birth

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. CONTENTS VII
3. FOREWORD XI
4. Introduction 1
5. PART I • THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE IN CHILDBIRTH
6. 1. Authoritative Knowledge and Its Construction 55
7. 2. An Evolutionary Perspective on Authoritative Knowledge about Birth 80
8. PART II • INTRACULTURAL VARIATIONS IN AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BIRTH:
9. 3. Fetal Ultrasound Imaging and the Production of Authoritative Knowledge in Greece 91
10. 4. The Production of Authoritative Knowledge in American Prenatal Care 113
11. 5. What Do Women Want? 132
12. 6. Authoritative Knowledge and Birth Territories in Contemporary Japan 159
13. PART III • INTERCULTURAL VARIATIONS IN AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BIRTH:
14. 7. Ways of Knowing about Birth in Three Cultures 183
15. 8. Authoritative Touch in Childbirth 209
16. 9. Authority in Translation 233
17. 10. Changing Childbirth in Eastern Europe 263
18. PART IV • FIGHTING THE SYSTEM:
19. 11. Resistance to Technology-Enhanced Childbirth in Tuscany 287
20. 12. Intuition as Authoritative Knowledge in Midwifery and Home Birth 315
21. 13. Randomized Controlled Trials as Authoritative Knowledge 350
22. 14. Confessions of a Dissident 366
23. PART V • VIABLE INDIGENOUS SYSTEMS OF AUTHORITATIVE KNOWLEDGE:
24. 15. "Women come here on their own when they need to" 397
25. 16. Maternal Health, War, and Religious Tradition 421
26. 17. Heeding Warnings from the Canary, the Whale, and the Inuit 441
27. 18. An Ideal of Unassisted Birth 474
28. NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS 493
29. INDEX 501