Birth in four cultures Book

A wonderful resource from anthropologist Brigitte Jordan who pioneered the cross-cultural study of birth during her dissertation work. As someone trained to some degree in the social sciences, and as a nerd, it was just as interesting to read Jordan's take and treatment of the methodological challenges and opportunities around the study of birth as it was to read about some of her findings themselves.

None of Jordan's findings were too surprising in 2019, more than 40 years after initial publication in 1978 and 20+ years after the update in 1993. What is interesting, though also not that surprising, is how change has continued to be slow (happening though!) in the US and how many of her predictions about the medicalization of the birth process in developing countries would progress, not always to the benefit of mothers and children.

It made me hungry to learn more about how birth in the US and other places IS changing, and how I can be part of that as a new doula. It also made me hungry to learn more about other traditional cultural practices, particularly from my own Chinese and SE Asian culture. I know some about postpartum practices of confinement, but much less about the birthing process itself. My assumption is that in most Asian countries today, birth is highly medicalized and rates of cesarians etc. rival the US, but it made me hungry to know more.