Robbie E. Davis-Floyd
Birth as an American Rite of Passage
Second Edition
$22.95, £15.95 paperback
9780520229327
Available Now
424 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 4 tables, 1 line drawing
March 2004, Available worldwide
Also in: Women's Studies; Health Care
March 2004, Available worldwide
Also in: Women's Studies; Health Care
Why do so many American women allow themselves to become enmeshed in the standardized routines of technocratic childbirth--routines that can be insensitive, unnecessary, and even unhealthy? Anthropologist Robbie Davis-Floyd first addressed these questions in the 1992 edition. Her new preface to this 2003 edition of a book that has been read, applauded, and loved by women all over the world, makes it clear that the issues surrounding childbirth remain as controversial as ever.
"[Davis-Floyd] is a respectful listener who has encouraged her subjects to speak honestly about a complex experience. Consequently, even skeptical readers of the fascinating stories she has gathered should be prompted to reflect on the meaning of their own or their partners' experience of birth…. I admire, without reservation, the generous, critical, passionate spirit that animates this book."—Sara Ruddick, New York Times Book Review
"I can say without hesitation that in the 36 years I have been helping childbearing women, there is only a handful of books that have had a great cultural impact. This is one of them."—Roberta M. Scaer, Editor of Genesis
www.davis-floyd.com--author's web site
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