Make Room for Daddy

by Leavitt, Judith Walzer

• ISBN13: 9780807832554
• ISBN10: 0807832553
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780807887837
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-21
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

InMake Room for Daddy, historian Judith Walzer Leavitt offers a fascinating look at an important but long-neglected aspect of childbirth in America--the changing role of the expectant father.Leavitt uses fathers' first-hand accounts from letters, journals, and personal interviews along with hospital records and medical literature to offer a new perspective on the changing role of expectant fathers from the 1940s to the 1980s. She shows how, as men moved first from the hospital waiting room to the labor room in the 1960s, and then on to the delivery and birthing rooms in the 1970s and 1980s, they became progressively more involved in the birth experience and their influence over events expanded. With careful attention to power and privilege, Leavitt charts not only the increasing involvement of fathers, but also medical inequalities, the impact of race and class, and the evolution of hospital policies.Heavily illustrated with more than seventy images from medical literature, films, and television shows such asI Love Lucy,All in the Family, andHappy Daysand from popular magazines includingEbonyandMcCall's, this book explores popular depictions as well as the real experiences of fathers across the country. Telling much of the story using fathers' and mothers' own voices, this engaging book will strike a chord with many readers, reminding them of their own experiences even as it offers important new insights into childbirth in modern America.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction Men Matter	p. 1
Alone Among Strangers: The Medicalization of Childbirth	p. 21
Keeping Vigil: Fathers in Waiting Rooms	p. 48
The Best Backrubber: Fathers Move into Labor Rooms	p. 86
He Wants to Know: Prenatal Education for Fathers	p. 120
Peaceful and Confident: Mothers and Fathers in Labor Rooms	p. 156
Side by Side: Men move into Delivery Rooms	p. 195
We Did it: Together in Delivery and Birthing Rooms	p. 236
Epilogue Expectant Fathers' Expectations	p. 284
A Note on Sources	p. 297
Notes	p. 299
Acknowledgments	p. 367
Index	p. 371
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