Midwives in Mexico

This book presents the contemporary history and dynamics of Mexican midwifery - professional, (post)modern or autonomous, traditional and Indigenous - as 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. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Hanna Laako is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Georgina Sánchez-Ramírez is a Researcher-Professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. She is also member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (CONACYT).

Introduction: Navigating the Midwifery Waters in Mexico Hanna Laako and Georgina Sánchez-Ramírez 1. Underdogs, Turf Wars and Revivals: Politically Situated Mexican Midwiferies in Historical, Multiscale Perspective Hanna Laako 2. She Breaks Paradigms and Leaves a Trail: The Contested Terrains of Midwifery Activism Hanna Laako 3. From Infantilization to Body-Territoriality: Birth Centers in Mexico Georgina Sánchez-Ramírez 4. Dejar Pasar: The Safe Interruption of Pregnancy by Traditional, Indigenous Midwives in Southern Mexico Georgina Sánchez-Ramírez and Geicel Llamileth Benítez Fuentes 5. Postcolonial Midwifery: Midwives, Territories and Human Rights in Development Hanna Laako Conclusions: Situatedness and the Making of Worlds in Midwifery Hanna Laako and Georgina Sánchez-Ramírez