Traditional Midwives
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Published on 30. October 2025
488 pages
978-1-040-39885-2 (ISBN)
Description
Traditional Midwives: Cross-Cultural Perspectives is a pioneering work that delves deeply into the worlds of traditional midwives, shedding light on their practices, roles, and the immense cultural value they hold within their respective communities wherever they are still allowed to practice. This book not only champions the significance of traditional midwifery but also critiques the (often misguided) global and national initiatives that seek to move all childbirths into biomedical facilities. These facilities, as clearly shown by the chapters in this book, are frequently underequipped and under-staffed, often providing substandard care that can often be obstetrically violent and abusive. The push to move all births into such facilities disregards the quality of care that traditional midwives provide and undermines the trust and rapport they have built within their respective communities. This global push is particularly detrimental to rural women because biomedical facilities are often located far away from such communities. This geographical distance makes access to maternity care difficult, if not impossible, especially for rural women. Furthermore, almost none of the biomedical practitioners are willing to live and practice in such remote areas, thereby leaving thousands of (especially rural) women without any maternity care provision.
Other critical points that this book addresses are the failures of the governmental efforts to train traditional midwives in higher-level skills. As the chapters in this book also clearly demonstrate, the essence of traditional midwifery lies in experiential learning, where skills are passed down through observation, practice, and mentoring.
By bringing to light the multiple challenges that are currently being faced by traditional midwives and the shortcomings of biomedical facilities, this book serves as a crucial reminder of the need for culturally safe and sensitive community- based maternity care that traditional midwives are fully able to provide. It is an essential read for policymakers, healthcare professionals, students, and for anyone who is interested in traditional midwives and their practices.
Other critical points that this book addresses are the failures of the governmental efforts to train traditional midwives in higher-level skills. As the chapters in this book also clearly demonstrate, the essence of traditional midwifery lies in experiential learning, where skills are passed down through observation, practice, and mentoring.
By bringing to light the multiple challenges that are currently being faced by traditional midwives and the shortcomings of biomedical facilities, this book serves as a crucial reminder of the need for culturally safe and sensitive community- based maternity care that traditional midwives are fully able to provide. It is an essential read for policymakers, healthcare professionals, students, and for anyone who is interested in traditional midwives and their practices.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
2 Tables, black and white; 8 Halftones, black and white; 8 Illustrations, black and white
File size
5,63 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-39885-2 (9781040398852)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€65.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Book
10/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€208.10
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD, Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Rice University is a well- known cultural/medical/reproductive anthropologist, and an international speaker and researcher in transformational models of childbirth, midwifery, obstetrics, and reproduction.
Betty- Anne Daviss MA, BMJ, RM is a Canadian registered midwife who, for almost 50 years, has combined her midwifery practice with her research in the social sciences and in clinical epidemiology.
Inayat Ali PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a Pakistani medical anthropologist, and a public health expert.
Betty- Anne Daviss MA, BMJ, RM is a Canadian registered midwife who, for almost 50 years, has combined her midwifery practice with her research in the social sciences and in clinical epidemiology.
Inayat Ali PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a Pakistani medical anthropologist, and a public health expert.
Content
Introduction: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Traditional Midwives Robbie Davis-Floyd, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Inayat Ali 1. Authoritative Knowledge: A Trialogue on Ways of Doing, Teaching, and Learning About Birth Melissa Cheyney, Robbie Davis-Floyd, and Brigitte Jordan (posthumously) Part 1. Traditional Midwives In Mexico: In Homage To Brigitte Jordan, Founding Mother Of The Anthropologies Of Midwifery And Birth 2. Regulating Traditional Mexican Midwifery: Practices of Control, Strategies of Resistance Mounia El Kotni 3. Integrating Traditional Midwives into the State Healthcare System: A Critical Case Study from Chiapas, Mexico Margaret Buckner, Mariana Montano, and Iris Vanegas 4. Community Power as the Source for Valuing and Validating Traditional Midwifery in Mexico Nancy Paola Chavez Arias 5. A Tale of Three Midwives: Inconsistent Policies and the Marginalization of Midwifery in Mexico Lydia Dixon, Mounia El Kotni, and Veronica Miranda 6. Two Traditional Midwives in Mexico: Re-Turning to the Essence of Traditional Midwifery Sabrina Speich Part 2. Traditional Midwives In Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Aotearoa New Zealand, Pakistan, Laos, Peru, Norway, Guatemala, And India 7. Traditional Midwives in Nigeria, the Importance of Their Work, How They Are Perceived by Biomedical Maternity Care Professionals and Mothers, and How Traditional Midwives Perceive Biomedical Maternity Care Practitioners Andrew Donatus Abue 8. The Roles of Traditional Midwives during Healthcare Crises in Kenya: Experiences from the Giriama Community in Coastal Kenya Stephen Okumu Ombere 9. Traditional Birth Escorts? Reexamining the Work and Needs of Traditional Midwives in Rural Tanzania Megan Cogburn 10. Indigenous Midwives and the Biomedical System among the Karamojong of Uganda: Introducing the Partnership Paradigm Sally Graham and Robbie Davis-Floyd 11. Cradling the Renaissance of Ngai Tahu Customary Maternity Knowledge through Ancient Lullabies Kelly Tikao 12. Traditional Midwives and Home Births in Rural Sindh Province, Pakistan: Exploring Maternal Healthcare Practices and Preferences Salma Sadique, Inayat Ali, and Shahbaz Ali 13. Baloch Midwives in Pakistan Challenge the Haunting Expectations of Hospital Births Fouzieyha Towghi 14.When the Traditional Midwife Is a Man: Reimagining Traditional Midwifery in Laos and Globally Pascale Hancart Petitet 15. The Afterlife of Andean Parteras: The Provision of "Shadow Reproductive Care" and the Ironies of Expertise Rebecca Irons 16. Standing with Ancestral Authority in Guatemala: Comadronas' Tireless Historical Services Win Partial Redemption Luisa Araneda, Ingrid Gonzalez, Betty-Anne Daviss, translation by Fernando Rodriguez 17. Sami Midwifery in Times of Transition Anne-Hedvig Salmi Nordsletta and Anna-Lill Drugge 18. Traces of the Traditional: The Emergence of Professional Midwifery Practices in Contemporary India Sreya Majumdar Conclusions Robbie Davis-Floyd, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Inayat Ali
