Analysis Of Using An Anthropological Perspective

Robin Yates’s paper, “Pregnancy and Childbirth, The 1800’s vs. Now: What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting,” was filled with many clear points on the advancement of labor and medicine since the 1800s. This essay was filled with interesting and grabbing facts; however, the structure of the essay needs more support.

The paper introduces a sophisticated analysis of the maternity-related issues as well as childbearing policies in the USA. The American documentary “Born in the USA” serves as a material for the study. It is the first public television documentary to provide an in-depth look at childbirth in America. It offers a fascinating overview of birthing, beginning with the early days of our country when almost everyone knew of mothers or babies who died in childbirth. As medicine advanced, maternal and infant mortality rates dropped radically. Hospitals were soon promoted as the safe, modern way to have a baby. The film reveals some crucial specifications of pregnancy, giving birth to a child and raising an offspring in the United States. Specifically, it verifies a general assumption, according to which American obstetricians possess a worldwide recognition, due to their proficiency (Wagner, 2008, p. 4). Moreover, the paper reviews such issues as pregnancy

Most Americans associate hospitals to be the standard place where women can give birth. However, women did not always deliver in hospitals. Gynecology, the medical practice dealing with the female reproductive system, did not emerge until the early nineteenth century. Before doctors came along, women used to hire midwives to deliver babies in the comfort of their own homes. In this paper I will examine the social, political, and scientific implications of how giving birth has transitioned from being a midwife’s job into that of a doctor’s. Furthermore, I will attempt to show how these implications intersect together to make birth a feminist issue. To support my argument, I will be referencing Tina Cassidy’s “The Dawn of the Doctors,” Abby Epstein’s documentary film The Business of Being Born, and Eesha Pandit’s article “America’s secret history of forced sterilization: Remembering a disturbing and not-so-distant past.” I argue that the processes surrounding birth are intersectional feminist issues because they are often manipulated by male figures pursuing money and authority, which ultimately compromises women’s health and power of choice.

The idea of childbirth has been viewed in three peculiar ways: a social natural occurrence, as a passage to an early death, and in present times a medical procedure needed when having children. In the seventieth and eighteenth century childbirth was seen as a social celebration conducted by midwives, while in the nineteenth century fear of death arose due to an increase of maternal mortality rates. This time period also served as a transition time between the elimination of the midwife and the emergence of the physician. The transition was due to attitude changes and knowledge understanding. During the twentieth century, medical knowledge expanded and thus the idea of childbirth was medicalized into a medical procedure needed to have healthy children. Childbirth once seen as a natural phenomenon was now an event that needed medical attention by health facilitators at institutions of health. The ideas around childbirth developed based on the knowledge, cultural setting, mortality rates, and professionals available at the time. Based on these ideas it is easy to see how social and behavioral aspects influenced childbirth throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, ninetieth and twentieth centuries. In addition, the communities’ views on childbirth were influenced by the development of public health infrastructure, public health policy advancement and how well public officials were able to disseminate information.

Today, MSC visited Jeffrey at his Dau Habilitation program located on 1221 E14th street, Brooklyn, NY. MSC greeted the receptionist and she called his Day Hab. Supervisor Yocheved Mordkontech. She guided MSC to his classroom and Jeffrey was happy to see his MSC. Jeffrey asked MSC how she was doing and MSC stated good. Jeffrey was dressed appropriatelt in a green shirt, jeans and sneakers. Jeffrey had a clean hair cut. He told MSC that she spoke to his sister and is a little worried about here. He also worries about missing medical appointments. MSC informed him not to worry, Marie Rose will make sure he attends each medical appointments in a timely manner. Yocheved stated that Jeffrey has been doing good. He has been cooperative and he has improved in being courteous of others.

The history of childbirth is long, spanning across the entire history of every creature. The physical act has stayed the same with the exclusion of c-sections but the social aspect has changed drastically. Through exploring Nancy Dye’s History of Childbirth in America, Wenda Trevathan’s The Evolutionary History of Childbirth, and Barbra Rothman’s Childbirth as a Negotiated Reality, one will receive a glimpse into the social history of childbirth.

Culture is an enormous part of our lives. It can affect every part of our daily living from our health, nutrition, religious beliefs, and communication, to even how one is expected to think and behave. This paper explores various cultural beliefs on childbirth and specifically childbirth positions from three different cultures, Chinese, Indian, and American. The basic differences in cultures permeates one’s perspective on birth and is part of why certain beliefs and restrictions are present. How one brings new life into the world is steeped in traditions unique to each culture.

For this interview project paper, I chose childbirth as my topic because it is related to the field that I want to pursue in my future career and I wanted to explore more about it. Having said that, I was given an opportunity to create my own questions that were correlated with childbirth and its relations to the domains of human development. I had the opportunity to interview a woman in her early adulthood, who recently gave birth to their second child here in Rockville, Maryland. After one hour of interviewing her over the phone, I was able to developed my thesis, introduction, supporting details, and conclusion for my paper based on my interviewee’s responses and experience about childbirth.

It is important to understand the process of medicalization and how childbirth has undergone that process. According to Riessman in the medicalization article, he defined medicalization as a process in which ‘medical practice becomes a vehicle for eliminating or controlling problematic experiences that are defined as deviant, for the purpose of securing adherence to social norms’ (Brubaker and Dillaway 2009). This meaning that medical intervention becomes an instrumental tool to control what is seen as deviant experiences with the intention of creating a norm for society. The professionalization of medicine and science shows a history of efforts in attempting to control populations and solve what was thought to be social problems (Brubaker and Dillaway 2009). Therefore,

Another issue in which feminist and religious movements can be seen to converge in this novel is in the process of childbirth. To understand why this is significant a short history of childbirth is necessary. In early times all births were natural due to the fact that there were not any alternatives. Even after anesthetics had been regularly used for many medical procedures, however, childbirth was still not considered a situation that required pain relief techniques. This was partially due to the fact that until recently most births were attended by midwives or other women rather than by physicians and were not considered

Reccounts of loved ones’ and respected elders’ past birthing experiences surely, and naturally, play an influential role in shaping birth perceptions. According to Dick-Read (2013), “history of similar undertakings as related by those who had personal knowledge

It is noted that employees spend a large amount of their time at work. Work is becoming more than just a 9-5, but a place work longevity friendships are created. Also created is what the article termed as workaholism, reporting that workaholism not only cause a great deal of stress but can also cause mental fatigue and physical somatic systems. All of these aliments can hinder spiritualty – which can lead to absence, low performance, and a financial hit for the company. The financial components include medical expenses, loss of productivity, health insurance.

This article Ways of Knowing about Birth in Three Cultures examines the concept of authoritative knowledge elaborated by Brigitte Jordan, using examples of birthing systems in Mexico, Texas, and Jamaica. In this article Carolyn Sargent and Grace Bacope explores the linkages between the distribution of knowledge about birth and the use of technology. It also demonstrates the valuation of biomedical and alternative “ways of knowing” about birth; the production of authoritative knowledge through interaction; and the relationship between authoritative knowledge and social status. In the Maya low-technology, collaborative birthing system in Mexico, the midwife and other adult women share knowledge about birth. In Spanish-speaking women are undergoing

In Susan Greenhalgh's study, Situating Fertility: Anthropology and Demographic Inquiry, she studies the pitfalls of analyzing reproduction and fertility through classic demographic theory. Greenhalgh argues that the lens of political economy offers a more comprehensive understanding of global reproductive trends. An understanding of the foundational differences between political economy of reproduction and classic demographic theories in terms of their respective views on social, political, and economic factors, illuminates the benefits of a political economy framework. Utilizing two cases studies one concerning the practice of Birth Spacing in the Belgian Congo, and the second focusing on the reproductive history of women of color in the United

How should someone interpret another culture that they are not familiar with? In the study of cultural anthropology there are two terms in which an individual can formulate an opinion on a new cultural setting. The first is ethnocentrism, which is defined by anthropologist as the belief that one’s own way is correct. (Shchultz and Lavenda:2013 28) There are numerous accounts of this ideology throughout history which has resulted into some of worst human acts that were ever committed. When the Europeans began colonization in Africa, Australia and in North America they strongly believed that the Europeans culture was the superior culture. This led to the annihilations of multiple cultures and religions throughout these regions because the European began to convert these indigenous people to the “better civilization”. The next term used to acquaint a new culture is called cultural relativism, which has multiple variations, but in “Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on The Human Condition” they define this term as someone relating their own culture to another culture that they are not familiar with. Also main goal of cultural relativism is to promote an understanding of seemingly odd cultural practices that rang in morality from bug eating to genocide. (Shchultz and Lavenda:2013 31) Also keep in mind this ideology is meant to be in a neutral stand among these different cultures despite the observers own moral concepts. An example that could be given is female