Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change [Paperback]

Robbie Davis-Floyd (Editor), Christine Barbara Johnson (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415931517 | ISBN-13: 978-0415931519 | Publication Date: March 30, 2006 | Edition: New edition

Providing insights into midwifery, a team of reputable contributors describe the development of nurse- and direct-entry midwifery in the United States, including the creation of two new direct-entry certifications, the Certified Midwife and the Certified Professional Midwife, and examine the history, purposes, complexities, and the political strife that has characterized the evolution of midwifery in America.
Including detailed case studies, the book looks at the efforts of direct-entry midwives to achieve legalization and licensure in seven states: New York, Florida, Michigan, Iowa, Virginia, Colorado, and Massachusetts with varying degrees of success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The works is at its strongest when examining the impacts of having a fractionalized movement, exploring the tensions between a need for movement unity while also maintaining space for differences in midwifery philosophy and practice." -- Natasha Pinerics, Atlantis, 2008

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; New edition edition (March 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415931517
• ISBN-13: 978-0415931519
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,230,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic midwifery policy/politics overview, September 8, 2008

By 

Rebecca Allen (Brookline, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change (Paperback)

You know with Davis-Floyd's name (as an editor, and as an author or co-author of several chapters), it's going to be well-researched, dense with information and has a good chance of completely changing your perspective. Repeatedly. The process of professionalization/regulation/legalization currently underway for midwives in the US is fraught with controversy: for the women who are concerned their out-of-hospital options will disappear as part of the compromises inevitable in regulation, for the midwives who see the possible slide to more interventionist birth, for obstetricians and others who see midwifery in and out of the hospital as competition and lower-quality care.

Davis-Floyd and Johnson have navigated a difficult path between developing themes by wrenching the data around in support and handing the reader hundreds of pages of information and narrative of how the legalization process has gone in various states with no guidance. They fell into neither trap, but instead built up the story, state by state, woman by woman, law by painstakingly crafted law. The result develops slowly and requires close attention, but is well worth the effort and provides a depth of ideas for activists working the same problem in the rest of the country that would otherwise be difficult if not impossible to convey in a usable fashion.

I hope this text finds an audience outside the community of birthing women, midwives and health care. It's a brilliant example and analysis of how public policy really happens in the US.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for midwives, August 5, 2011

By 

Emily McConnell - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change (Paperback)

As a student midwife, I found this resource invaluable. It is not just about where we CPMs fit into society today; it also describes where we came from and how we got here. Each chapter is carefully organized and full of examples. The research is quite scholarly as well, encompassing a breadth of sources that provides a basis for further research should one be interested.