Biological Body, Social Body, Political Body?

Abstract

This paper covers various aspects of the contemporary issues faced by the midwifery profession in America with a focus on gendered issues of midwives and their clients. My analysis begins by considering the historically embedded practice of North American midwifery. The shift from birthing and maternity as a women’s domain to the territory of the newly trained male medical practitioner is outlined. I then undertake an examination of how midwifery is perceived today, including what footing it has gained and lost since the nineteenth century, and how the proliferation of consumerism has impacted midwifery practice. The overarching theme of the piece is to demonstrate how midwifery has functioned historically and in the present as a means of empowering women and allowing them to retain control over their bodies through pregnancy and the birthing process. This approach is in competition with the dominant biomedical model, which portrays the (male) medical practitioner as an all-knowing presence and the woman as a machine to be handled. The core question considered is how North American midwifery has changed over time and how issues of gendered work and patriarchal domination in medicine have influenced these changes. Methodologically, this paper considers how various scholars conceptualized midwifery and the issue of the medicalization of women’s bodies present within the dominant biomedical model. The desire for control, which is experienced by many women, is conceptualized as partially stemming from the negative experiences some women have encountered within obstetrics, and with male medical professionals specifically. I conclude with a discussion of how due to various factors, such as consumerism and neoliberal ideologies, midwifery is located within discourses regarding choice and women’s reclamation of control over their bodies.