This collection brings together the leading research in maternity care from the United States, Canada and Europe to discuss systems of care for pregnancy and childbirth. The essays focus on the practical side of good social science and feminist-friendly research. The text not only looks at maternity, but also the act of childbirth, with the goal of providing not just comparative perspectives of care, but also to integrate the differences in care within each essay for a truly international understanding of maternity care.

This collection brings together the leading research in maternity care from the United States, Canada and Europe to discuss systems of care for pregnancy and childbirth. The essays focus on the practical side of good social science and feminist-friendly research. The text not only looks at maternity, but also the act of childbirth, with the goal of providing not just comparative perspectives of care, but also to integrate the differences in care within each essay for a truly international understanding of maternity care.

"Everyone who cares about the question of regulating lay-midwifery should consider the author's premise." -"Journal of Nurse-Midwifery" "Making Midwives Legal" explores what happens when midwifery and medicine are brought together by legal regulation. Combining historical data on the regulation of midwifery in Europe and the Unites States with a field study of the regulation of midwifery in Texas, Arizona, and California, Raymond G. DeVries uncovers the subtle ways legislation alters the profession-demonstrating both beneficial and detrimental consequences. This new edition includes an...