Childbirth Across Cultures

Childbirth Across Cultures explores the childbirth process through globally diverse perspectives to offer a broader context with which to think about birth. It addresses multiple rituals and management models surrounding the labor and birth process from communities across the globe.


Labor and birth are biocultural events that are managed in countless ways. We are particularly interested in the notion of power. Who controls the pregnancy and the birth? Is it the hospital, the doctor, or the in-laws, and in which cultures does the mother have the control? These decisions, regarding place of birth, position, who receives the baby and even how the mother may or may not behave during the actual delivery are all part of the different ways that birth is handled.


The cultures included range from the Solomon Islands to Africa, Asia and the Americas. Other chapters cover Midwives and other Birth Attendants, Evolution of Birth, Women’s Birth Narratives, and Child Spacing and Breastfeeding.


This book will bring together global research conducted by professional anthropologists, midwives and doctors who work closely with the individuals from the cultures they are writing about, offering a unique perspective direct from the cultural group.