Betty-Anne Daviss - Böcker

This book addresses the politics of global health and social justice issues around birth, focusing on dynamic communities that have chosen to speak truth to power by reforming dysfunctional health care systems or creating new ones outside the box. The chapters present models of childbirth at extreme ends of a spectrum—from the conflict zones and disaster areas of Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and Indonesia, to high-risk tertiary care settings in China, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. Debunking notions about best care, the volume illustrates how human rights in health care are on a collision course with global capitalism and offers a number of specific solutions to this ever-increasing problem.This volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and students in anthropology, sociology, health, and midwifery, as well as for practitioners, policy makers, and organizations focused on birth or on social activism in any arena.

This book addresses the politics of global health and social justice issues around birth, focusing on dynamic communities that have chosen to speak truth to power by reforming dysfunctional health care systems or creating new ones outside the box. The chapters present models of childbirth at extreme ends of a spectrum—from the conflict zones and disaster areas of Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and Indonesia, to high-risk tertiary care settings in China, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. Debunking notions about best care, the volume illustrates how human rights in health care are on a collision course with global capitalism and offers a number of specific solutions to this ever-increasing problem.This volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and students in anthropology, sociology, health, and midwifery, as well as for practitioners, policy makers, and organizations focused on birth or on social activism in any arena.

This groundbreaking book takes us around the world in search of birth models that work in order to improve the standard of care for mothers and families everywhere. The contributors describe examples of maternity services from both developing countries and wealthy industrialized societies that apply the latest scientific evidence to support and facilitate normal physiological birth; deal appropriately with complications; and, generate excellent birth outcomes - including psychological satisfaction for the mother. The book concludes with a description of the ideology that underlies all these working models - known internationally as the midwifery model of care.

Traditional Midwives: Cross-Cultural Perspectives is a pioneering work that delves deeply into the worlds of traditional midwives, shedding light on their practices, roles, and the immense cultural value they hold within their respective communities wherever they are still allowed to practice. This book not only champions the significance of traditional midwifery but also critiques the (often misguided) global and national initiatives that seek to move all childbirths into biomedical facilities. These facilities, as clearly shown by the chapters in this book, are frequently underequipped and under-staffed, often providing substandard care that can often be obstetrically violent and abusive. The push to move all births into such facilities disregards the quality of care that traditional midwives provide and undermines the trust and rapport they have built within their respective communities. This global push is particularly detrimental to rural women because biomedical facilities are often located far away from such communities. This geographical distance makes access to maternity care difficult, if not impossible, especially for rural women. Furthermore, almost none of the biomedical practitioners are willing to live and practice in such remote areas, thereby leaving thousands of (especially rural) women without any maternity care provision.Other critical points that this book addresses are the failures of the governmental efforts to train traditional midwives in higher-level skills. As the chapters in this book also clearly demonstrate, the essence of traditional midwifery lies in experiential learning, where skills are passed down through observation, practice, and mentoring.By bringing to light the multiple challenges that are currently being faced by traditional midwives and the shortcomings of biomedical facilities, this book serves as a crucial reminder of the need for culturally safe and sensitive community- based maternity care that traditional midwives are fully able to provide. It is an essential read for policymakers, healthcare professionals, students, and for anyone who is interested in traditional midwives and their practices.

Traditional Midwives: Cross-Cultural Perspectives is a pioneering work that delves deeply into the worlds of traditional midwives, shedding light on their practices, roles, and the immense cultural value they hold within their respective communities wherever they are still allowed to practice. This book not only champions the significance of traditional midwifery but also critiques the (often misguided) global and national initiatives that seek to move all childbirths into biomedical facilities. These facilities, as clearly shown by the chapters in this book, are frequently underequipped and under-staffed, often providing substandard care that can often be obstetrically violent and abusive. The push to move all births into such facilities disregards the quality of care that traditional midwives provide and undermines the trust and rapport they have built within their respective communities. This global push is particularly detrimental to rural women because biomedical facilities are often located far away from such communities. This geographical distance makes access to maternity care difficult, if not impossible, especially for rural women. Furthermore, almost none of the biomedical practitioners are willing to live and practice in such remote areas, thereby leaving thousands of (especially rural) women without any maternity care provision.Other critical points that this book addresses are the failures of the governmental efforts to train traditional midwives in higher-level skills. As the chapters in this book also clearly demonstrate, the essence of traditional midwifery lies in experiential learning, where skills are passed down through observation, practice, and mentoring.By bringing to light the multiple challenges that are currently being faced by traditional midwives and the shortcomings of biomedical facilities, this book serves as a crucial reminder of the need for culturally safe and sensitive community- based maternity care that traditional midwives are fully able to provide. It is an essential read for policymakers, healthcare professionals, students, and for anyone who is interested in traditional midwives and their practices.

This contributed volume explores flexible, adaptable, and sustainable solutions to the shockingly high costs of birth across the globe. It presents innovative and collaborative maternity care practices and policies that are intersectional, human rights-based, transdisciplinary, science-driven, and community-based.  Each chapter describes participatory and midwifery-oriented care that helps improve maternal and newborn outcomes within minoritized populations. The featured case studies respond to resource constraints and inequities of access by transforming relations between providers and families or by creating more egalitarian relations among diverse providers such as midwives, obstetricians, and nurses that minimize inefficient hierarchies within maternity care. The authors build on a growing awareness that quality and respectful midwifery care has lower costs and improved outcomes for child bearers, newborns, and providers. Topics include: Sustainable collaborations including transfers of care among midwives and obstetricians in India, The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and DenmarkMidwifery-oriented, femifocal, indigenous, and inclusive models of care that counter obstetric violence and gender stereotypes in Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Argentina, and India Doula care and midwifery care for women of color, previously incarcerated women, indigenous women, and other minoritized groups in the global north and southPractices and metrics for improving quality of newborn and maternal care as well as maternal and newborn outcomes in disruptive times and disaster settings  Sustainable Birth in Disruptive Times is an essential and timely resource for providers, policy makers, students, and activists with interests in maternity care, midwifery, medical anthropology, maternal health, newborn health, obstetrics, childbirth, medicine, and global health in disruptive times.