The Social Organization of Natural Childbirth: The Case of Center for Midwifery Care

Abstract

Natural childbirth is a practice that aims to minimize the amount of medicalinterference during childbirth while maximising the active involvement ofmothers in decisions related to this process. This practice has spread steadilyin Russian obstetrics since the 1990’s and has become a significantchallenge to official medical techniques assisting delivery. Both proponentsand critics of natural childbirth usually see this practice in an essentialistway, i. e. as an attempt to restore in modern society some "genuine" experienceof delivery. In this article, the category of social control is employedin order to emphasize the social aspects of natural childbirth and to analysethe core principles of its social organization in midwifery care. The methodologicalapproach of the work springs from the qualitative sociologicaltradition. The analysis presented within is based on in-depth interviewswith both the staff and mothers from one of Russia’s centres for midwiferycare, and on data gathered through observation carried out at courses forprospective parents.