Keisha L. Goode - Pregnancy and Birth

Pregnancy and Birth

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CONTEMPORARY WORLD ISSUES

Pregnancy and Birth

A REFERENCE HANDBOOK

Keisha L. Goode and Barbara Katz Rothman

Copyright 2021 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Goode, Keisha L., author. | Rothman, Barbara Katz, author.

Title: Pregnancy and birth : a reference handbook / Keisha L. Goode and Barbara Katz Rothman.

Other titles: Contemporary world issues.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, [2021] | Series: Contemporary world issues | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020047762 (print) | LCCN 2020047763 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440869211 (hardcover ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440869228 (ebook)

Subjects: MESH: Pregnancy | Parturition | Maternal Welfare | United States

Classification: LCC RG525 (print) | LCC RG525 (ebook) | NLM WQ 200 AA1 | DDC 618.2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047762

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047763

ISBN: 978-1-4408-6921-1 (print)

978-1-4408-6922-8 (ebook)

252423222112345

This book is also available as an eBook.

ABC-CLIO

An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC

147 Castilian Drive

Santa Barbara, California 93117

www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

Americans talk as if pregnancy is a medical condition to be diagnosed and managed and of babies as coming into the world, arriving as if from some other place, packages delivered and brought home from the hospital. The United States dominant medical model of pregnancy and birth values systematization, management, efficiency, and control. This does not reflect the normal physiologic process of birth nor the interdependent nature of human existence. Where is the person in the body? Where is the person in the technocratic cascade of medical interventions? What emotional and physical connections between birthing person and baby are disrupted?

This wide-ranging book introduces readers to U.S. pregnancy and birth from a person-centered, Reproductive Justice perspective. All pregnancies end, whether by live birth with ones gestational parent, surrogacy, or adoption. They may also end by miscarriage, abortion, or stillbirth. This book introduces readers to these experiences and outcomes using historical account, empirical data, and personal essays. We maintain that how a society primarily treats pregnant and birthing people is a demonstration of how it values human life.

The womb is the babys first environment. The babys transition from the womb to the worldthe birthing process, setting, and people presentis our first demonstration of care, love, and value for baby, birthing person, and family. How we are born, and what we are born into, matters. Birth, the subsequent growth and development of children, and the raising of a younger generation, with all of the familial, communal, and social resources required, are universal aspects of human existence. It is important for our readers to understand that our use of the terms pregnant person and birthing person throughout the book is intentional. Not all people that have wombs, get pregnant, or give birth, identify as women. Thus, wherever possible, we use birthing person, a gender-inclusive term, to refer to cisgender, transgender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, and non-binary people.

This book provides readers with a starting point in understanding aspects of the beauty and complexities of pregnancy and birth in the United States. The following summaries of chapter content provide guidance on where to find particular information:

, Background and History, offers a broad overview of the development of pregnancy and birth in the United States. This chapter is organized into two parts. The first part demonstrates how pregnancy has come to be understood in American culture, and the second part focuses on the history of birthing practices with specific attention to the status of midwifery and its relationship to both law and obstetric dominance.

, Problems, Controversies, and Solutions, discusses seven key issues that, whether in mass media or academic or mainstream literature, have not gained the urgent attention they deserve. The birthing outcomes and experiences of Indigenous peoples and transgender people, in particular, have been largely overlooked. This chapter addresses these issues along, with the professionalization of caring, highlighting media representations of pregnancy and birth, the high costs associated with the perinatal health care system, and the importance of the U.S. census toward allocating more resources. The chapter concludes with centering Reproductive Justice, as a framework and as a practice, as the primary solution to addressing the problems and controversies discussed in the chapter, and throughout this book.