Part I: Birth and death are parts of life that every culture views differently. In the United States, we have heavily medicalized our outlook on birth and death taking away from the family and cultural roots and putting it into the hands of doctors. In comparison to other nations in the Global North like the Netherlands, we are quite odd. I found it very interesting that in the Netherlands almost 61% of women give birth at home vs in the hospital (~31%) (Jonge A, et al.). This study, the explains birthing methods in the Netherlands uses an epidemiological perspective because of the reliance on counting/statistics in their methodology as well as a look at the Dutch population on the whole (Epidemiological Approaches). In comparison to countries in the Global South, many women also choose to have home births like they do in the Netherlands. By utilizing an interpretative perspective, the filmmakers Nick Ahlmark and Nicole Precel showed ethnographic stories of Hmong women in northern Vietnam and their cultural rituals surrounding birth. Besides the difference in the medicalization of birth in Vietnam to the US, there are cultural rituals that keep families from wanting to give birth in medical centers or hospitals. The Hmong tradition is to bury the placenta under the bed of the women who gave birth as a sign of good luck and health for the baby (Ahlmark & Precel, 2011). A lot of other cultures prioritize women as knowing about birth either as birth-givers or as midwives. The Inuit traditionally give birth with midwives present instead of in hospitals. While it has been a struggle to maintain this traditional way of life at the odds of the Canadian government forcing women to give birth in Southern Canada in hospitals, Inuit people are trying to reclaim this right (Daviss, 1996) In these cultures, women are valued for the knowledge on childbirth, whereas in the US the ultimate knowledge comes from someone with a medical degree. This perspective also illuminates a cultural aspect of family importance when it comes to things such as life and death. As with birth, death is highly medicalized in the US. Not only do we medicalize death, as the film by Rush and Meadows shows, but we also distance ourselves from death by using things like cremation (2012). This film used the same perspective, interpretative, by looking at how differing families view death and their experiences with funeral/funeral homes in the US. Many other cultures prefer to keep their loved ones intact and close to home after death. In the Inuit culture, life and death are heavily connected as the baby is named after a family member who passed as a form of reincarnation (Gabriel). By keeping the family close and even believing in reincarnation, other cultures have strong ties to family lineage whereas most Americans bury or cremate their dead and only visit their grave occasionally if at all. Similarly, Americans tend to avoid the subject of death when discussing a loved one or that death is the ultimate failure for medicine but other cultures rejoice and celebrate the life of a loved one and await their relatives’ reincarnation. By medicalizing birth for many cultures, we take away these cultural aspects that symbolize importance to women, mothers, and families.
Daviss, B. A., (1996). Heeding warnings from the canary, the whale, and the Inuit. Midwifery Today Childbirth Education.
de Jonge A, van der Goes B, Ravelli A, Amelink-Verburg M, Mol B, Nijhuis J, Gravenhorst J, Buitendijk S. Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529 688 low-risk planned home and hospital births. BJOG 2009 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2009.0217
Epidemiological Approaches [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp270-us19/lecture-videos/epidemiological-theory/.
Gabriel, C. Inuit Birth: Reclaiming Birth Authority [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp270-us19/lecture-videos/inuit-birth/.
Glennie, E. [UNFPAasia]. (2011, April 27). The Mountain Midwives of Vietnam [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F1dmcJTd9U
Rush, M. [Merilynne Rush]. (2012, September 25). Home Funeral Discussed – full high quality version [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaVJfJsflP0.
Part II: “Why You Should Save Your Birth Plan for Your Second Baby” Retrieved from https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/labor-and-delivery/save-your-birth-plan-for-your-second-baby/
This image was found on parents.com a magazine that is run by Meredith Corporation based out of Des Moines Iowa. This image is one that relates to the dominant ideas about American childbirth due to the highly medicalized situation. You see the pregnant women in a gown in stirrups with a person in scrubs at her feet. These are aspects of hospitalized labor whereas a home birth would not look as sterile and would not be surrounded by hospital personnel. This image also captures the dominant American idea of pregnancy in that both the women in labor, the person holding her hand (we can assume a male or the father of the baby) and the hospital personnel are all white. This picture perpetuates the idea of how birth should be done, in a hospital and with both the mother and father present.
Your blog raised some interesting points that I didn’t observe when I read this week’s materials and watched the videos. First, you approached the Vietnamese birthing procedure with the interpretative theory, which I didn’t. I used the feminist theory because during the video I noticed the women made decisions based on their male counterparts and what was best for the family. However, after reading your post I see more of a connection to the interpretative theory rather than the feminist theory. Also, how did you conclude on Rush using the interpretative theory in her video? I had a difficult time figuring out what theoretical perspective she was using. Personally, I sort of see the video connecting to the epidemiological theory because she is discussing death by looking at the population of people. Your photo choice does an excellent job of depicting American pregnancy. Based on this week’s video regarding Vietnamese birth process, I can see similarities between your analysis and the video. Overall, our countries have two very different “ideal” process, but there is one similarity. In both cultures, the pregnant women prefer to be surrounded by loved ones, which is important when giving birth.
I really enjoyed reading your part II for this blog post. I completely agree with the fact that it depicts how a birth should be done in the hospital with both mother and father present. In addition to that, however, I also noticed something that the media tends to do: portray the “perfect American family” with a mother and father of Caucasian decent. It does not show different types of families like one with two mothers or a family that is African American. Is there any way you can think of to change these ideas of how an “American family” should look? Will changing advertisements like these be enough to change the rooted mindsets of society?
In addition to your part II of the blog post, you also touched on some things that I did not pick up on in part I. The way you tied in the Inuit’s tradition of naming their babies after a deceased relative as a way to embrace death rather than distance themselves from death was really unique. I agree with the fact that this was a great way to keep strong ties with the family even after death.