Towards the Humanisation of Birth

Uses epidural analgesia as the lens for analysis of the current ontological and epistemological debates in maternity care Examines key sociological and philosophical debates in current maternity care practice and provision, with a view to influencing the design and provision of such care in the future Tracks historical developments in the field as the background to the wider debates to be addressed in the text

Elizabeth Newnham is a midwife academic at Trinity College Dublin, whose research interests centre on cultural and political analysis of birthing practice and the role of midwives in promoting physiological and humanised birth. Lois McKellar is the Program Director for the Bachelor of Midwifery at the University of South Australia and an advocate for improving the well-being of women and their families through collaborative research and education. Jan Pincombe is an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia and Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives. She is one of 4 editors for the first midwifery textbook in Australia and New Zealand for practicing and student midwives.

1. Introduction.- 2. The Epidural in Context.- 3. The Politics of Birth.- 4. Institutional Culture: Discipline and Resistance.- 5. A Dialectic of Risk.- 6. A Circle of Trust.- 7. Closing the Circle.