Midwives in Mexico
This book presents the contemporary history and dynamics of Mexican midwiferyprofessional, (post)modern or autonomous, traditional and Indigenousas profoundly political and embedded in differing societal stratifications.
By situated politics, the authors refer to various networks, spaces and territories, which are also constructed by the midwives. By politically situated, the authors refer to various intersections, unsettled relations and contexts in which Mexican midwives are positioned. Examining Mexican midwiferies in depth, the volume sharpens the focus on the worlds in which midwives are profoundly immersed as agents in generating and participating in movements, alliances, health professions, communities, homes, territories and knowledges. The chapters provide a complex panorama of midwives in Mexico with an array of insights into their professional and political autonomy, (post)coloniality, body-territoriality, the challenges of defining midwifery and, above all, into the ways in which contemporary Mexican midwiferies relate to a complex set of human rights.
The book will be of interest to a range of scholars from anthropology, sociology, politics, global health, gender studies, development studies and Latin American studies, as well as to midwives and other professionals involved in childbirth policy and practice.
Hanna Laako is an associate researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). She is also a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (CONACYT).
Georgina Snchez-Ramrez is a researcherprofessor at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in San Cristbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. She is also a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (CONACYT).
Social Science Perspectives on Childbirth and Reproduction
Series editor: Robbie Davis-Floyd
(Rice University)
This series focuses on issues relating to childbirth and reproduction from social science perspectives. It includes single-authored, co-authored and edited books concerned both with peoples reproductive experiences and with birth practitioners such as midwives (both professional and traditional), obstetricians, nurses, doulas and others. It seeks to provide new viewpoints on functional and sustainable birth models and the challenges to their creation and maintenance, as well as on obstetric violence, disrespect and abuse and their root causes. Single-case and comparative ethnographies on birth and other reproductive issues are featured, from high-tech conceptions to normal pregnancy and birth, including reproductive politics and human-rights issues in reproduction worldwide.
Birthing Models on the Human Rights Frontier
Speaking Truth to Power
Edited by Betty-Anne Daviss and Robbie Davis-Floyd
Midwives in Mexico
Situated Politics, Politically Situated
Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
Birthing Techno-Sapiens
Human-Technology Co-Evolution and the Future of Reproduction
Edited by Robbie Davis-Floyd
www.routledge.com/xxxx/book-series/SSPCR
Midwives in Mexico
Situated Politics, Politically Situated
Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2021 Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
The right of Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Laako, Hanna, author. | Sanchez Ramirez, Georgina, author.
Title: Midwives in Mexico : situated politics, politically
situated / Hanna Laako and Georgina Sanchez-Ramirez.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2021. | Series: Social science perspectives on childbirth
and reproduction | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020043267 (print) | LCCN 2020043268 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367473419 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003034988 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: ChildbirthPolitical aspectsMexico. |
Indigenous womenMexicoSocial conditions. |
WomenMexicoSocial conditions. | MidwivesMexico.
Classification: LCC RG518.M6 L33 2021 (print) |
LCC RG518.M6 (ebook) | DDC 618.4dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043267
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043268
ISBN: 978-0-367-47341-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-03498-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Newgen Publishing UK
This book is dedicated to Mexican midwives, whom we hope will always thrive.
And to our children, Aurora, Lumi and Andrs, whom we also hope will always thrive in their lives.
Contents
Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
Hanna Laako
Hanna Laako
Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
Georgina Snchez-Ramrez and Geicel Llamileth Bentez Fuentes
Hanna Laako
Hanna Laako and Georgina Snchez-Ramrez
Hanna Laako is Associate Researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). She is also a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (CONACYT). Finnish by birth, she has permanently lived in Chiapas, Mexico, since 2011. She currently researches nature conservation politics in the Maya Forest, financed by the Mexican CONACYT and the Finnish Kone Foundation (20192024). She holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Georgina Snchez-Ramrez has been researcher-professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in San Cristbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico since 1997. She has also been a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (CONACYT) since 2007. She is Mexican and lives in Chiapas. She is a feminist social scientist who has specialized in gender and health issues since 1995. She holds a PhD in Sexuality and Interpersonal Relationships from the University of Salamanca, Spain.
Geicel Llamileth Bentez Fuentes is an independent consultant in Chiapas, Mexico. She works on issues related to unwanted pregnancies, adolescence and midwifery training. She holds an MA in Science from the Autonomous University of Chiapas, Mexico.