Date on Senior Honors Thesis

5-2017

Document Type

Senior Honors Thesis

Degree Name

B.A.

Department

Anthropology

Degree Program

College of Arts and Sciences

Author's Keywords

Birth; Mexico; Midwife; Grounded Theory; Pregnancy; Partera

Abstract

This study investigates the maternal birth experience through a cross-cultural lens. While the field of medical anthropology has researched birth practices of many cultures, few cross-cultural studies have been performed and no recent studies have suggested a transition in birthing. Ethnographic interviews with women and practitioners in Yucatán, Mexico and with women in Kentucky, United States allowed for a better understanding of the respective birthing environments. Grounded theory was then employed to develop a birth transition theory explaining changes occurring when society transitions from traditional birth practitioners to allopathic birth practitioners. The themes of knowledge, expectation and power were isolated and further analyzed to outline the transition and explain the impact it has on the maternal birth experience.

Lay Summary

This study investigates the maternal birth experience through a cross-cultural lens. While the field of medical anthropology has researched birth practices of many cultures, few cross-cultural studies have been performed and no recent studies have suggested a transition in birthing. In-depth interviews with women and practitioners in Yucatán, Mexico and with women in Kentucky, United States allowed for a better understanding of the respective birthing environments. The results were use to develop a birth transition theory explaining changes occurring when society transitions from traditional birth practitioners to biomedical birth practitioners. The themes of knowledge, expectation and power were isolated and further analyzed to outline the transition and explain the impact it has on the maternal birth experience.

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