African American Midwifery in the South

Starting at the turn of the 20th century most African-American midwives in the South were gradually excluded from reproductive health care. Here Gertrude Fraser shows how physicians, public health personnel and state legislators mounted a campaign ostensibly to improve maternal and infant health, especially in rural areas. They brought traditional midwives under the control of a supervisory body, and eventually eliminated them. The author explores a number of ideas about race, gender the relationship of medicine to society and the status of the South in the national political and social economies.

ISBN 0674008529   Pages 520 ISBN13 9780674008526 (What's this?)   Volumes 000 Publisher Harvard University Press   Weight (grammes) 572 Imprint Harvard University Press   Published in Cambridge, Mass Format Hardback   Height (mm) 235 Publication date 09 Nov 1998   Width (mm) 155 Library of Congress 97038661   Spine width (mm) 25 DEWEY 362.1982008996073   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC21

		Acknowledgments
		Prologue		1
I		The Body Politic
1		Introduction		25
2		Midwives and the Body Politic		43
3		Race and Regulation		59
4		Race and Mortality		79
II		Authoritative Knowledge
5		Nurses and Midwives in the Classroom		107
6		The Logic of Prenatal Care		125
III		Memory and Experience
7		On Silence and Memory		139
8		Changed Bodies, Changed Communities		163
9		The Social Context of Midwifery		181
10		Pregnancy and Birthing		213
11		The Postpartum		239
12		Conclusion		257
		Notes		265
		References		269
		Index		283

Fraser, an anthropologist, documents the sad demise of the African American lay midwife. Using ethnographic and historical research methods, she chronicles the community health role of the southern African American midwife as well as birth norms within the community. She also documents the actions of the white medical, public health, and nursing professions to 'improve' birth outcomes; one such action included ridding themselves of the 'midwife problem.' Fraser focuses on one rural Virginia county during the first half of the 20th century, but she compares and contrasts her findings to research from other parts of the South, the North, and other places in the world. She reaffirms the well-documented medicalization of birthing in the US, but uniquely adds the exacerbating influence of race. Drawing on medical journal articles of the period, two sections establish the historical and political context and the accepted medical knowledge surrounding birth; a final section relates the recollections of the community itself, the midwives and the women who were cared for. Here the reader will learn much about the realities of qualitative research. Relevant to the obvious anthropological and health care communities, but also to historians and students of women's and African American studies. -- M. A. Thompson Choice This book provides an important contribution to the literature on midwifery and reproductive health care. Fraser deftly weaves ethnography, historical analysis, and findings from many studies of midwifery, pregnancy, and birth experiences to make her arguments. But the appeal of this book goes well beyond its significance for the history, anthropology, and sociology of midwifery. Scholars interested in the complex interrelationships between sexism, racism, health, and health care will also find a wealth of interesting and provocative facts here. -- Beth Rushing Health

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