Ways of knowing about birth : mothers, midwives, medicine, & birth activism / selected writings by Robbie Davis-Floyd and colleagues.

Includes bibliographical references.

The technocratic, humanistic, and holistic paradigms of birth and health care -- The rituals of hospital birth: enacting and transmitting the technocratic model -- The technocratic body and organic body: hegemony and heresy in women's birth choices -- Medical training as technocratic initiation -- The paradigm shift of humanistic and holistic obstetricians: the "Good Guys and Girls" of Brazil -- American midwifery: a brief anthropological overview -- Intuition as authoritative knowledge in midwifery and homebirth -- Daughter of time: the postmodern midwife -- Mutual accommodation or biomedical hegemony? A brief anthropological overview of global issues in midwifery -- Homebirth emergencies in the US and Mexico: the trouble with transport -- The midwifery model of care: anthropological perspectives -- renegade midwives: assets or liabilities? -- Anthropology and birth activism: what do we know? -- Working with anthropology in policy and practice: an activist's experiences -- Creating the International MotherBaby Childbirth (IMBCI): anthropologically informed activism.

There is no other living scholar with Davis-Floyd's solid roots, activism, and scholarly achievements on the combined subjects of childbirth, midwifery, obstetrics, and medicine. Ways of Knowing about Birth brings together an astounding array of her most popular and essential works, all updated for this volume, spanning over three decades of research and writing from the perspectives of cultural, medical, and symbolic anthropology. The 16 essays capture Robbie Davis-Floyd's unique voice, which brims with wisdom, compassion, and deep understanding. Intentionally cast as stand-alone pieces, the chapters offer the ultimate in classroom flexibility and include discussion questions and recommended films.