Pushing for Midwives

Christa Craven is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the College of Wooster.

"In her beautifully rendered study of midwifery in Virginia, Craven shows how the rhetoric of 'consumer choice'-a shibboleth of those promoting reproductive rights for women-excludes large segments of the childbearing population. In the best tradition of anthropology, she unpacks an irony, illustrating how our social and economic environment can simultaneously celebrate and constrain women's choices. Great stuff." -Raymond De Vries, Professor, Bioethics/Sociology/Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan and author of A Pleasing Birth: Midwifery and Maternity Care in the Netherlands "Craven makes a convincing case for her claim that a continued commitment to expanding reproductive justice is dependent on finding ways to see, and then to ameliorate, the race and class prejudices that lurk, thinly veiled, below the surface of the push for midwives. The most important contribution of this book is the author's sophisticated and nuanced historical discussion of factors that have shaped struggles over reproductive healthcare in the Unites States." - American Journal of Sociology

• Acknowledgments Notes on Research and Activism Introduction: Pushing for Midwives 1 Histories of Struggle 2 The Birth of Consumer Activism for Midwives 3 Midwives in Virginia 4 Mothers in the Legislature 5 "I'm Not Really Politically Active, but ..." 6 Divisive Strategies Epilogue: Beyond Consumer Rights Notes Bibliography Index