Index
abortion, 18–19
Amish mothers, 26–27
autonomy, (CIMS principle), 8
birth stories
importance of, 1–15, 144
Michaela at the Northern
New Mexico Birth Center,
208–-209
positive teachings, 10, 178
Teresa at Home, 134–142
See also birth stories at The
Farm
birth stories at The Farm
Charlotte at The Farm, 43–
50
Chloe at The Farm, 102–106
Keri at The Farm, 180–
189
See also birth stories; The
Farm Midwifery Center
bloodletting, 71, 79–80
bodies. See women's bodies
breast implants, 152–161
and autoimmune disorders,
154–155, 159
effects on milk, 157–158
FDA vote on, 159–161
rupture of, 156
and suicide rates, 153
breast surgery, 151-161
breech presentation, 110, 114115, 127, 195, 219
birth, 1–15
breech, 111, 114–115, 127
195, 219
couvade, 11–12
importance of, 1–15, 214
and interventions, 23, 25, 71,
195
medicated, 84–85, 117, 122–
124
need for privacy, 10, 29–31
and rights, 7, 217, 220
and sexuality, 51–61
unmedicated, 23, 54
See also birth care; birth
stories; C-sections;
hormones; inner primate;
maternity care; medication;
natural birth; sexuality
birth care, 1–6
birth centers, 197–198
different models, 63–67
postpartum home visits, 81,
203–205
societal impact, 1–2, 6, 218–
220
See also home births;
maternity care; The Farm
birth centers, 197–198, 218
Michaela at the Northern
New Mexico Birth Center,
208–209
See also The Farm
Midwifery Center
birth culture, 27–29
sheela-na-gigs, 17, 55-57
See also birth stories; birth
stories at The Farm
birth images
sheela-na-gigs, 17, 55–57
in textbooks, 79
TV depictions and shame, 51
Birth Registration Act, 75–76
cesarean section. See Csections
Childbirth without Fear (DickRead), 13–14
Coalition for Improvement of
Maternity Services (CIMS)
principles, 8
couvade, 11–12
C-sections, 3-7
and birth process, 211-213
and epidurals, 117
high rates of, 3, 115–117,
161-163
rise in maternal death rates
6, 115, 126–127, 131
1
Index
C-sections (continued)
risks from, 3, 40–41, 195,
204
safety myth, 5
and time pressure, 3132, 196
See also surgery;
technology
fathers
and birth process, 167–168,
171–173
personal story, 173–178
role after birth, 178–179
fear of birth, 27–29, 54, 59–
61, 78–79
as abnormal, 36, 60
and technology, 4, 144
See also Hodge, Dr. Hugh L.;
medical men; pain in
childbirth
feminism
and abortion, 18–19
and birth, 19
second-wave feminism, 17–
19, 69
women-centered ethic, 41–
42
and women’s' health care,
143–146
See also de Beauvoir,
Simone; empowerment;
motherhood; second-wave
feminism; women-centered
ethic
forceps, 59, 64, 77–78
percent of deliveries with,
21, 61
See also medicalization of
birth
Deadly Delivery: The
Maternal Health Care Crisis
in the USA (Amnesty Int'l),
129, 131
de Beauvoir, Simone, 69
do no harm, (CIMS principle),
8
Dutch care system, 71–73
empowerment, 1–2, 19, 42,
143–146
as CIMS principle, 8
from knowledge, 27–29,
146
Safe Motherhood Quilt
Project, 127–129
and technology, 107
See also birth stories; birth
stories at The Farm;
feminism; technology
empowerment, (CIMS
principle), 8
epidurals, 122–124
and C-sections, 117
side effects of, 123–124
The Farm Midwifery Center
birth culture developed at,
27-29
location of, 26
Native American and African
American women on, 20
natural birth on, 20-27
See also birth centers; birth
stories on The Farm; Gaskin,
Ina May
Gaskin, Ina May
career as midwife, 21–27
Gaskin maneuver, 195
surgery performed on, 21,
24
See also The Farm
Midwifery Center
Gereb, Dr. Agnes, 216–218
See also human rights
2
Index
labor (continued)
and medication, 25, 84-85
117, 122–124
reversal of, 29, 31
See also birth; birth stories;
birth stories at The Farm;
pain in childbirth
Labor Among Primitive
Peoples (Engelmann), 65,
82–83
legal rights
and home births, 90
and midwives, 75–76, 193–
194
See also human rights;
maternal mortality
rate
Leopold's maneuvers, 108,
110
Hodge, Dr. Hugh L.
and fear of birth, 59, 79
midwives as competitors,
74, 87
and scare tactics, 74
See also medical men
home births, 72, 89–90
importance of surroundings,
39, 214
loss of rights, 90
postpartum care, 203-205
problematic studies on, 91–
98
See also Dutch care system;
Teresa at Home
hormones
adrenaline, 25, 30, 33, 171
beta-endorphins, 34–35, 40,
53
oxytocin, 33–34, 40, 53,
170–171
role of in birth, 25, 33–37,
40, 52–53
See also pain in childbirth
hospitals, 81, 75, 114, 200
humanized birth principles, 9
human rights
Deadly Delivery: The
Maternal Health Care
Crisis in the USA
(Amnesty Int'l), 129, 131
and birth, 7, 217, 220
women-centered ethic, 41–
42
and women’s maternity
care, 6,191–194, 207, 217
See also Gereb, Dr. Agnes;
maternal mortality rate
maternal mortality rate
death certificates, 130–132
lack of infrastructure, 129–
132, 163–164, 198–201
link to C-sections, 3-7, 126–
127
reporting, 129–132, 200201
rising in US, 7, 75, 81
steps to reduce, 201–203
See also Deadly Delivery:
The Maternal Health Care
Crisis in the US (Amnesty
Int'l); medication
maternity care, 73–77, 203–
205
anti-midwife arguments, 77
as human right, 191–194
and maternal choice, 72
maternity ward abuse, 85–
86
medicalization of, 3, 108–
113, 126–127
rural areas, 193–194
standards needed, 195–196
See also birth centers
inner primate, 37–41
labor, 65, 82–83
beauty of, 24–25
induction of, 58, 121–122
and inner primate, 37–41
2
Index
midwives (continued)
and apprenticeship, 76
as competitors for fess, 74
early US midwives, 73–77
education needed, 192, 194195
European population, 74,
78, 89, 192
lack of in US, 63, 88–89,
129, 192
and licensing, 76, 81, 193–
194
role of in birth, 22–27, 42
see also Birth Registration
Act; birth stories; birth
stories at The Farm;
Gaskin, Ina May;
midwifery
mind/body connection, 23,
28–29
mortality rates. See maternal
mortality rate
motherhood, 17–42, 163–164
Safe Motherhood Quilt
Project, 127–129
and second-wave feminism,
17–18
and women’s
empowerment, 1–2, 7, 27
See also birth; maternal
death rate; mothers; myths;
women’s bodies
mothers, 6–7
Amish mothers, 26–27
postpartum home visits,
203–205
and society, 1–3, 163–164,
205–207
and unnecessary surgery,
125-127, 151–161
women-centered ethic, 41–
42
See also birth; maternal
death rate; motherhood;
myths; women's bodies
medicalization of birth
medication, 84–85, 122–
124, 144–158
midwives marginalized, 74–
77, 212–218
surgery, 125–127, 161–163,
211–220
See also birth; C-sections;
maternity care; medical
men; technology
medical men, 58–61, 77–79
doctors' ignorance, 80–81
focus on tools, 64, 78
and illness model, 63–65,
77
and midwives, 64–65, 81
See also Hodge, Dr. Hugh
L.
medication, 144–151
dangers of Cytotec, 122
DES and cancer, 146–148
epidurals, 117, 122–124
Gardasil, 149–150
menstruation-suppressing,
150–151
twilight sleep era, 84–85
See also birth: medicated
midwifery
campaign against, 77, 81,
90-98
denial of services, 88-90
endangered by surgery,
211–220
learning about, 21–27
and noninterference, 23, 25,
71
in Europe, 74, 78
wellness model, 63–64, 71–
72, 220
See also Gaskin maneuver;
inner primate; Leopold's
maneuvers; midwives;
mind/body connection
midwives
3
Index
myths
about natural birth, 6, 21,
27, 38
about women's feelings, 59,
61
safety of C-sections, 5
vagina becomes ruined, 3536
obstetrics (cont.) surgery;
technology
pain in childbirth, 38–41, 5354
fear and lack of knowledge,
13, 39
medicated labors, 25, 39,
84–85, 122–124
reduction of and hormones,
13, 39–40, 52-53
sphincter law, 169–170
See also Childbirth without
Fear (Dick-Read);
hormones; medication
postpartum home visits, 81,
203–205
pregnancy
diagnosing by palpation,
108
diagnosing by X-rays, 119
and ultrasound, 119-121
See also Leopold's
maneuvers
pregnancy, terminated. See abortion
privacy
need for in birth, 10, 29–31
See also sphincter law
Native American women, 1415, 20
natural birth, 2, 20-27
education needed about, 220
fear of, 4, 36
myths about, 6, 21, 27, 38
See also inner primate;
midwifery; natural birth
movement; The Farm
natural birth movement
and Coalition for
Improvement of Maternity
Services principles, 8
and Humanized Birth
principles
philosophy of, 8–9
normalcy, (CIMS principle), 8
nurse-midwives, 87–88
nurses, obstetric
creation of, 78–79
deficiencies in education,
110–112
overwork of, 112
responsibility, (CIMS
principle), 8
Safe Motherhood Quilt
Project, 127–129
second-wave feminism
de Beauvoir, Simone, 69
view of motherhood, 17–19
sexuality
and birth, 51–61
kissing during labor, 52
orgasm in birth, 35, 54
and western mind, 58–61
sheela-na-gigs, 17, 55–57
obstetrics
and deterioration of skills,
81, 110–112
establishment of, 59
future of, 211–220
and surgery, 211–213
revision of education, 194–
195
role of nurse, 78–79, 110–
112
and technology, 118–121
See also nurses, obstetric;
4
Index
US women’s health care
(continued)
brutal practices, 77-80, 8485
ignorance of doctors, 80–81
lack of midwives, 63, 88-89
129, 192
history, 63–98, 145–163
See also birth care; maternal
mortality rate; maternity
care
US Standard Death Certificate,
201–202
societal impact
of birth, 1-2, 6, 218- 220
See also surgery; technology
sphincter law, 29–32, 169–170
and reversal of labor, 29
and privacy, 10, 30
surgery, 211–220
breast, 151–161
cost of, 125–127
rates of, 3, 115-117, 161
spread of C-sections, 161163, 211
surgical birth, 125–127,
161–163
See also C-sections;
technology
surroundings, importance of,
39, 214
Wax Study, 93–98
errors in, 96–98
position against home birth,
94
and unethical studies, 98
Western thought
flawed philosophy, 67–71
and Nature, 69–70
medicine, 58–61, 64, 66–67
See also medical men;
medicalization of birth;
technology;
women
decision-making power of,
3, 6, 74
and human rights, 6, 41,
191–194
Native American, 20
power from birth, 1–2, 5354, 143
See also empowerment;
feminism; motherhood;
mothers; women-centered
ethic; women's bodies; US
women's health care
women-centered ethic, 41–42
women's bodies, 23, 54, 69
female pelvis, 21, 66–67
mind/body connection, 28–9
as mothers, 1-3, 6-7
respect for, 144
TV and shame, 51
technology
and deterioration of skills,
113–116
electronic fetal monitoring,
116–118
and empowerment, 107–
108, 127-129
and infrastructure, 129-132
overuse of, 125–129
reliance on ultrasonography,
109, 119–121
use of X-rays, 118–121
See also medication;
surgery
traditional cultures
Amish mothers, 26-27
Native American Women,
20
sheela-na-gigs, 55–57
women as caregivers, 2
twilight sleep era, 84–85
US women’s health care
Birth Registration Act, 75–
76
5
Index
women’s bodies (continued)
vagina as birth organ, 21,
35–36, 51
See also birth; breast
implants; breast surgery;
labor; mind/body
connection; mothers;
myths; US women's health
care
Yoshimura, Dr. Tadashi, 214–
216
6