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Towards the Humanisation of Birth

A study of epidural analgesia and hospital birth culture

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  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Elizabeth Newnham

    1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

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  2. Lois McKellar

    1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

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  3. Jan Pincombe

    1. School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

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  • 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
  • Tracks historical developments in the field as the background to the wider debates to be addressed in the text

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. Introduction

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 1-19

  3. The Epidural in Context

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 21-66

  4. The Politics of Birth

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 67-101

  5. Institutional Culture: Discipline and Resistance

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 103-147

  6. A Dialectic of Risk

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 149-192

  7. A Circle of Trust

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 193-244

  8. Closing the Circle

    • Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe
    Pages 245-259

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 261-266
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines the future of birthing practices, particularly by focusing on epidural analgesia in childbirth. It describes historical and cultural trajectories that have shaped the way in which birth is understood in Western, developed nations. In setting out the nature of epidural history, knowledge and practice, the book delves into related birth practices within the hospital setting. By critically examining these practices, which are embedded in a scientific discourse that rationalises and relies upon technology use, the authors argue that epidural analgesia has been positioned as a safe technology in contemporary maternity culture, despite it carrying particular risks. In examining alternative research the book proposes that increasing epidural rates are not only due to greater pain relief requirements or access but are influenced by technocratic values and a fragmented maternity system. The authors outline the way in which this epidural discourse influences how information is presented to women and how this affects their choices around the use of pain relief in labour.

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Elizabeth Newnham

  • School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe

About the authors

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.







Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Towards the Humanisation of Birth

  • Book Subtitle: A study of epidural analgesia and hospital birth culture

  • Authors: Elizabeth Newnham, Lois McKellar, Jan Pincombe

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69962-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-69961-5Published: 22 February 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-88868-2Published: 10 May 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-69962-2Published: 13 February 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 266

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Medical Sociology, Medical Anthropology, Maternal and Child Health, Ethnography, Women's Studies

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