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Sexuality Research and Social Policy
Published in: Sexuality Research and Social Policy 4/2017

19-10-2016

Pregnancy Without Women: Lessons from Childbirth Classes

Authors: Natalia Deeb-Sossa, Heather Kane

Published in: Sexuality Research and Social Policy | Issue 4/2017

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Abstract

In this article, we examine motherhood “scripts,” or cultural discourses, taught in prenatal classes in the US South. Our analysis revealed that these prenatal classes, all taught in the early 2000s, appear to have supported a model of “intensive mothering” that undermined women’s autonomy and power in pregnancy. In addition, the content and messaging of these classes appears to have contributed to a societal tendency to make pregnant women, especially poor women and women of color, invisible while privileging the fetus as a person rater than as a potential person.
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Metadata
Title
Pregnancy Without Women: Lessons from Childbirth Classes
Authors
Natalia Deeb-Sossa
Heather Kane
Publication date
19-10-2016
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Sexuality Research and Social Policy / Issue 4/2017
Print ISSN: 1868-9884
Electronic ISSN: 1553-6610
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-016-0265-6

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