Birth As an American Rite of Passage

by Davis-Floyd, Robbie E.

• ISBN13: 9780520229327
• ISBN10: 0520229320
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Hospital birth, as opposed to homebirth, is a particularly American rite of passage and reflects our cultural belief in the superiority of science over nature, machines over bodies, men over women, institutions over individuals.

Author Biography

Robbie Davis-Floyd is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University.

Table of Contents

Tables	x
Preface to the Second Edition	xi
Acknowledgments	xli
Introduction: Birth as a Rite of Passage	1	(21)
Research Methods and Theoretical Concerns	2	(5)
Ritual and Rite	7	(15)
1. One Year: The Stages of the Pregnancy/Childbirth Rite of Passage	22	(22)
Separation: "Oh my God, I Think I'm Pregnant!"	22	(1)
Transition: Pregnancy as Transformation	23	(15)
Transition: Birth as Transformation	38	(2)
Transition: The Immediate Postpartum Period	40	(1)
Integration: "Swimming Up on the Other Side"	41	(3)
2. The Technocratic Model: Past and Present	44	(29)
Medicine as a Microcosm of American Society	45	(3)
The Body as Machine	48	(3)
The Technocratic Model of Birth	51	(8)
The Role of American Obstetrics in the Resolution of Cultural Anomaly	59	(14)
3. Birth Messages	73	(81)
"Standard Procedures for Normal Birth"	73	(2)
A Symbolic Analysis of Standard Obstetrical Procedures	75	(75)
From Nature to Culture: The Obstetrical Re-Structuring of Accidental Out-of-Hospital Births	150	(2)
Summary: Birth Rituals and Society	152	(2)
4. Belief Systems About Birth: The Technocratic, Wholistic, and Natural Models	154	(33)
The Significance of Belief	154	(1)
The Wholistic Model of Birth	155	(3)
The Technocratic and Wholistic Models of Birth Compared	158	(1)
"Natural" Models of Birth	159	(18)
The Ideology of Safety	177	(7)
The Alternative Birth Center: A Middle Ground?	184	(3)
5. How the Messages Are Received: The Spectrum of Response	187	(54)
Full Acceptance of the Technocratic Model of Birth	189	(10)
Full Acceptance of the Wholistic Model of Birth	199	(7)
Women-In-Between	206	(35)
6. Scars into Stars: The Reinterpretation of the Childbirth Experience	241	(11)
Compartmentalization	242	(1)
"Further Epistemic Exploration": "Teilhard de Chardin" versus "Sartre"	243	(9)
7. Obstetric Training as a Rite of Passage	252	(29)
Methods	252	(2)
Processes of Psychological Transformation: Medical School and Residency	254	(15)
Alternative Transformations: The Humanistic Paradigm	269	(7)
Women in Obstetrics	276	(1)
Obstetrics and American Society	277	(4)
8. The Computerized Birth? Some Ritual and Political Implications for the Future	281	(11)
The Cultural Consensus	281	(3)
Women's Rites: The Politics of Birth	284	(2)
The Technocratic Model of Birth: Futuristic Extremes	286	(6)
9. -Or Birth as the Biodance?	292	(13)
Birth as a Means for Accomplishing a Paradigm Shift	292	(2)
Wholism in Birth: Futuristic Extremes	294	(7)
The Computerized Birth, and the Biodance: Envisioning the Richness of Diversity	301	(4)
Conclusion	305	(4)
Appendix A Interview Questions Asked of Mothers	309	(4)
Appendix B Interview Questions Asked of Obstetricians	313	(4)
Notes	317	(14)
References	331	(38)
Index	369