Feminist theories have focused on contemporary, Western, experiences of maternity. This volume shows that birthing and mothering can be a very different experience for women in other parts of the world. The contributors document a wide variety of conceptions of motherhood in Asia and the Pacific, revealing how the experience of motherhood has been influenced by missionaries, colonial policies, and the introduction of Western medicine and biomedical birthing methods. They raise important questions about the costs and benefits of becoming a modern mother in these societies.
Feminist theories have focused on contemporary, Western, experiences of maternity. This volume shows that birthing and mothering can be a very differe...
This collection explores birthing in the Pacific against the background of debates about tradition and modernity. A wide-ranging introduction and conclusion, together with case studies from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga, show how simple contrasts between traditional and modern practices, technocratic and organic models of childbirth, indigenous and foreign approaches, and notions of before and after can be potent but problematic. The difficulties entailed confront public health programs concerned with practical issues of infant and maternal survival in...
This collection explores birthing in the Pacific against the background of debates about tradition and modernity. A wide-ranging introduction and c...
