Too often, in the debate over reproductive rights and technologies, we lose sight of the fundamental emotional and psychological issues that define the experience of pregnancy. Robin Gregg here draws on the words and stories of over thirty women to provide a first- hand perspective on pregnancy in the modern age. In an age where a new advance in reproductive technology occurs seemingly every month, pregnancy has come to be defined by such medical procedures as prenatal screening, amniocentesis, fetal monitoring, induced labor, and cesarean sections. Public policymakers, ethicists, religious figures, and the medical establishment control the debate, drowning out the voices of women who grapple in the most immediate sense with the issues. Even feminist theorists often overlook the nuances and paradoxes of the reproductive revolution as experienced by individual, particular women. The reader follows these thirty women as they speak about whether to become pregnant, and by what means; how to choose a health provider; what meaning they attribute to their pregnancies; and how they navigate their way through the contradictory pressures they face during pregnancy. The intimate nature of Gregg's research, consisting as it does largely of women's pregnancy narratives, lends her book a vibrancy often lacking in academic writing about reproduction.

This title is directed primarily towards health care professionals outside of the United States. This book explores the complex interrelationship between risk and choice in maternity care, taking a close look at how "high" and "low" risk are defined and what impact this has on a woman's ability to exercise informed choices throughout pregnancy. It offers an international collaboration that highlights different perspectives on debated issues, with chapters on maternity care in the UK, United States, Australia, and Ireland contributed by midwives, obstetricians, risk management experts, and sociologists. The aim of this book is to illustrate the changing reality of risk management as it relates to maternity care, and to highlight risk management concerns that may limit the choices available to pregnant women. Clarifies how applications of risk affect the choices pregnant women are able to exercise. Locates pregnancy risk considerations within the overall scheme of risk management. Analyzes practitioners' responses to the requirements of risk management. Presents risk management and choice from the risk manager's perspective, providing an understanding of risk as a "macro concept" in health care. Highlights medico-legal opinions on exercising choice, underscoring the need for accurate information and the ability to make informed decisions. Two chapters examine women's perspectives on risk labeling and the impact this has on choice - one in which the concept of safety within maternity care is discussed, and one in which the views of women with defined risk factors are explored and their ability to make choices is evaluated. Two chapters written by health service risk managers discuss the differences between an inner-city approach and a rural approach to the debate surrounding risk and choice. Discusses midwifery's focus on "normality" in childbirth and considers how this viewpoint affects the risk dialogue, including a chapter on clinical trends in maternity care. An obstetric perspective on risk refutes criticisms of obstetricians as being more likely to impose risk labels and limit choices by discussing how risks and choices are presented and considered within obstetric care. Explores the debate surrounding a woman's right to have a home birth in Ireland, in light of its risk management climate. Two chapters discuss the collaboration between service users, midwives, and obstetricians in Australia regarding the organization and delivery of maternity care, as well as the views concerning risk among indigenous Australians. Perspectives from nurse-midwives in the U.S. discuss the complex relationships among nurse-midwives, obstetricians, and pregnant women with regard to choice, including views on risk within immigrant communities.

The foundation between midwife and mother is the foundation upon which maternity care depends. Covering completely new topics areas, the new edition of this ground-breaking text brings together classic and current research to establish key tenets for maternity care within hospital and home. This ground-breaking essential text reaffirms the fragility and the power of the relationship between midwife and mother and remains the definitive guide to the complex area of midwife-mother relations. New to this Edition: - Fully revised and expanded to reflect key developments in midwifery philosophy over the past decade, applying a theoretical approach to emerging concepts such as emotional labour and midwifery partnership - Covers completely new topics areas, including the effects of emotional labour, poverty and health policy - Combines new works from the previous edition with new chapters on innovative midwifery practice - Brings together classic and current research to establish key tenets for maternity care within hospital and home

The history of pregnancy testing, and how it transformed from an esoteric laboratory tool to a commonplace of everyday life. Pregnancy testing has never been easier. Waiting on one side or the other of the bathroom door for a “positive” or “negative” result has become a modern ritual and rite of passage. Today, the ubiquitous home pregnancy test is implicated in personal decisions and public debates about all aspects of reproduction, from miscarriage and abortion to the “biological clock” and IVF. Yet, only three generations ago, women typically waited not minutes but months to find out whether they were pregnant. A Woman’s Right to Know tells, for the first time, the story of pregnancy testing—one of the most significant and least studied technologies of reproduction. Focusing on Britain from around 1900 to the present day, Jesse Olszynko-Gryn shows how demand shifted from doctors to women, and then goes further to explain the remarkable transformation of pregnancy testing from an obscure laboratory service to an easily accessible (though fraught) tool for every woman. Lastly, the book reflects on resources the past might contain for the present and future of sexual and reproductive health. Solidly researched and compellingly argued, Olszynko-Gryn demonstrates that the rise of pregnancy testing has had significant—and not always expected—impact and has led to changes in the ways in which we conceive of pregnancy itself.

This book provides the first comprehensive and detailed analysis of the Infanticide Act and its impact in England and Wales and around the world. It is 100 years since an Infanticide Act was first passed in England and Wales. The statute, re-enacted in 1938, allows for leniency to be given to women who kill their infants within the first year of life. This legislation is unique and controversial: it creates a specific offence and defence that is available only to women who kill their biological infants. Men and other carers are not able to avail of the special mitigation provided by the Act, nor are women who kill older children. The collection brings together leading experts in the field to offer important insights into the history of the law, how it works today, the impact and legacy of the statute and potential futures of infanticide laws around the world. Contributors consider the Act in practice in England and Wales, the ways it has been portrayed in the British media and justifications for and criticisms of the provision of special treatment for women who kill their infants within a year of birth. It also looks at the criminal justice responses to infanticide in other jurisdictions, such as Australia, Ireland, Sweden and the United States of America.

This important volume includes key papers which outline the history, concepts, research findings and recent controversies in medical anthropology - the cross-cultural study of health, illness and medical care. Among the topics covered are transcultural psychiatry, food and nutrition, anthropology of the body, alcohol and drug use, traditional healers, childbirth and bereavement and the applications of medical anthropology to international health issues, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria prevention and family planning. It is a valuable resource not only for scholars and students of medical anthropology but also for health professionals working in multi-cultural settings, or in international medical aid programmes.

Political Economy, Power and the Body is carefully organized to provide an introductory section of three chapters which set out a number of detailed theoretical arguments relevant to the work developed in the next two sections. In this sense the collection should be a major contribution in laying the groundwork in the new area. The strength of the volume lies in the way the individual chapters bring theory and practice together. It could be argued that it represents the maturity of feminist work in international political economy now. The book will be a vital teaching as well as research text, especially in international relations/international political economy/women's studies generally.

Selected as the "Most Enduring Edited Collection" by the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction Since Roe v. Wade, there has been increasing public interest in fetuses, in part as a result of effective antiabortion propaganda and in part as a result of developments in medicine and technology. While feminists have begun to take note of the proliferation of fetal images in various media, such as medical journals, magazines, and motion pictures, few have openly addressed the problems that the emergence of the fetal subject poses for feminism. Fetal Subjects, Feminist Positions foregrounds feminism's effort to focus on the importance of women's reproductive agency, and at the same time acknowledges the increasing significance of fetal subjects in public discourse and private experience. Essays address the public fascination with the fetal subject and its implications for abortion discourse and feminist commitment to reproductive rights in the United States. Contributors include scholars from fields as diverse as anthropology, communications, political science, sociology, and philosophy.

Birthing Autonomy brings some balance to the difficult arguments that arise from debates about home births, and focuses on women’s views and their experiences of planning home births. It provides an in-depth exploration of how women make decisions about home births and what aspects matter most to them. Comparing how differently the pros and cons of home births are constructed and contemplated by mothers and by the medical profession, the book looks at how current obstetric thinking and practices can disempower and harm women emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. Written in an accessible style, this book is enlightening for student and practicing midwives and obstetricians, as well as researchers and students of nursing, medical sociology, health studies, gender studies, feminist practitioners and theorists. It will also be invaluable to expectant mothers who want to be more informed about the choices they are facing and the wider context within which their birth options are considered.

ISSUES IN BIOMEDICAL ETHICS; General Editors: John Harris, University of Manchester; Soren Holm, University of Copenhagen.; Consulting Editor: Ranaan Gillon, Director, Imperial College Health Service, London.; North American Consulting Editor: Bonnie Steinbock, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY, Albany.; The late twentieth century has witnessed dramatic technological developments in biomedical science and the delivery of health care, and these developments have brought with them important social changes. All too often ethical analysis has lagged behind these changes. The purpose of this series is to provide lively, up-to-date, and authoritative studies for the increasingly large and diverse readership concerned with issues in biomedical ethics-not just healthcare trainees and professionals, but also social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. The series will feature both single-author and multi-author books, short and accessible enough to be widely read, each of them focused on an issue of outstanding current importance and interest. Philosophers, doctors, and lawyers from several countries already feature among the authors lined up for the series. It promises to become the leading channel for the best original work in this burgeoning field.; This volume: The Future of Human Reproduction brings together new work, by an international group of contributors from various fields and perspectives, on ethical, social, and legal issues raised by recent advances in reproductive technology. These advances have put us in a position to choose what kinds of children and parents there should be; the aim of the essays is to illuminate how we should deal with these possibilities for choice. Topics discussed include gender and race selection, genetic engineering, fertility treatment, ovarian tissue transfer, and post-menopausal pregnancy. The central focus of the volume is the interface between reproductive choice and public regulation.; 'The Future of Human Reproduction is a roadmap for twenty-first century reproductive technologies written by leading thinkers in the field for philosophers, policy makers, and clinicians. However, it will perhaps be equally useful for parents and other members of our most important social institutions, as we struggle to cope with the rapidly changing reproductive horizon.