First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Anthropologist Linda Layne takes a theoretically informed approach to the topic of miscarriage and stillbirth. About 20 per cent of all pregnancies in the US end in miscarriage or stillbirth, yet pregnancy loss is not a socially accepted topic of discussion. To cope, many middle-class women join pregnancy loss support groups. Layne studies these groups and the rituals they create to help would-be-parents through their loss.

Our consumer culture sets exacting standards and norms for what constitutes an ideal child. The tough realities of life often create children and child-bearing and rearing circumstances that are outside the ideal. How do women whose experiences don't match the norm cope and adapt? How do they make sense of it to themselves and to the world?

In a rich series of ethnographic case studies, Transformative Motherhood intimately conveys the experiences of women in the United States who, in each case, have reproductive encounters that do not match up to these cultural standards....

Our consumer culture sets exacting standards and norms for what constitutes an ideal child. The tough realities of life often create children and child-bearing and rearing circumstances that are outside the ideal. How do women whose experiences don't match the norm cope and adapt? How do they make sense of it to themselves and to the world?

In a rich series of ethnographic case studies, Transformative Motherhood intimately conveys the experiences of women in the United States who, in each case, have reproductive encounters that do not match up to these cultural standards....

Part of a series examining different aspects of knowledge and society, this volume focuses on the anthropology of science and technology. Divided into three parts, it covers: the reconstruction of medical science and technology; science and technology at large; and discipline, culture and power.