Sorca - You are looking to study the history of childbirth across cultures. I think that anthropology would provide you with this opportunity. Anthropology stands for study of the science of man. It is derived from two Greek words, 'anthropos' and 'logos' meaning the study of man. Anthropology is “Holistic”; “Comparative”; and “Cross-Cultural”. Holism refers to the study of the whole of the human condition: past, present and future; Comparative means that it examines all societies- ancient and modern; simple and complex; cross-cultural refers to constantly comparing the customs of one society with those of others.

Anthropology is the study of a man in groups or races and peoples and their culture, happenings and doings. Cultural Anthropology studies the man and his culture. It is mainly concerned with the material and non-material culture of the human beings.

I agree. Anthropology has taken an interest in childbirth for some time. The HRAF (or eHRAF) contain extensive resources on this subject. For an even deeper understanding, you could enter a degree program at a school that has a research interest in this subject, such as the University of Delaware or Syracuse University. A 1994 survey of work on the anthropology of birth can be found at https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=ant .

History of culture and cultural anthropology meet each other in several respect so I don't see a barrier to use the results of both disciplines for the own research project.

Follower

Definitely begin with Anthropology, then depending which cultural areas you want to focus on or which period of time you want to concentrate your research you can take electives in history or sociology.

Hi Sorca,

A short answer to your question is absolutely. Anthropology should allow you the opportunity to study the history of childbirth across cultures. Cultural anthropology is a specific area of focus in this science and will provide you with a foundation for your questions. You should be able to also conduct further research into your exact topic for something like a final paper for a course, while learning to see the world through an anthropological lens. If not, you should have the tools to research this subject on your own, after completion of a class or two. Good luck.

bonjour Sorca,

je te conseille de choisir d'étudier l'anthropologie et de s'approfondir en spécialité anthropologie de santé ou médicale.

Yes I think it would. In fact I cannot think of any other discipline that would offer quite the oppertunity to do so.

Hi Sorca,

I am an anthropologist and my PhD focuses on the constitution of pain on obstetrics in Portugal, with a historical perspective starting from the advent of anaesthesia (1846). Anthropology and history are definitely the disciplines I would advice. You can take a look to comprehensive volumes like Jordan's seminal work (1978) "Birth with in four cultures", or Lauren Dundes (ed.) "The Manner Born" (2003) just to start. In Portugal, the special issue "Birthing matters in Portugal: anthropological explorations" has been published recently on the journal Etnografica and it's available here:

https://journals.openedition.org/etnografica/5706

A great place to start, if you have not already, is Sheila Kitzinger's 'My Life: Anthropology, Family and Feminism'.

Dear Sorca, anthropology will offer you a platform for such a study

I think others have pointed that out, I'd offer one addition. I think you've mentioned two broad fields that would well match and offer resources for your interest in learning about diverse practices, studying birthing within and across cultural differences. They should probably both be resources for you if your interest is reading about the subject. But If you want to enter formal study or do research yourself the differences make a greater impact.

The two are different more for HOW they ask questions, rather than which questions they ask or what topics they will talk about, and different fields of history or different ways of approaching anthropology make a significant difference. While there is more diversity within each field than I'm going to mention, as a general observation- what your questions are should direct you more towards one.

If you want to look over a long period of history the methods and tools in history will offer different access to the way that social forces, different meanings were present and changed over times. For example in history you have tools to talk about cultures that were destroyed or diminished centuries ago that Anthropology would less often approach/talk about (an exception being in Archaeology as a connected field to anthro).

As opposed to history- Anthropology, particularly Social or Cultural Anthropology, will provide a greater focus on rich and important tools to look at existing cultures, see how the meanings/actions/rituals etc are present and changing today or in the last hundred years during which Anthropology recorded observations. 

They can both be exceptional approaches to understanding how things work, and how things have worked in the past. But the tools will be different. Little or big as those differences can be, without more detail on your interests I would say read into both subjects and see what seems to provide what you need.

While studying both is always going to offer a strength, and I would say it is common for good scholars of  anthropology to dip into history, it is less common for historians in general (other than those explicitly connected to ethnographic and social methods) to pay attention to anthropology. Not impossible to mix from either side, but in Anthropology, some historical review is usual in preparation and for comparison even though the focus is likely to be on Ethnographic or other methods of direct observation and interaction with participants/interlocutors.

Among other things to note, is sometimes the demand for attention to local and specific custom and perspective means that people reading anthropology find it too detailed and narrow when they dip into it. Whereas a historian on occasion may seem to broad in assembling differences and times into a story to tell.  In that sense your preference may dictate which is the more appropriate to your interests.

It may be that the birth process is easier even for some peoples and more difficult for others.

I recall an excellent paper given in the UK a few years ago by a PhD researcher on evidence for perinatal mortality in the archaeological record. Sadly I don't recall her name but it should be straightforward to track them down

You may want to contact Nessa McHugh at the anthropology dept at St Andrews. Her PhD is on midwifery pratice.

Forgot to add that Nessa is a practicing midwife.

On this question there should be interesting historical pictorial material, which can be found in special books, but also in museums.

My favourite paper on this topic would be Cheyney, M. (2011). Reinscribing the birthing body: Homebirth as ritual performance. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 25(4), 519-542. Such a fantastic piece, that'll really get you interested in studying anthro!

History may not provide you with answers to your question but anthropology is the right discipline

Hi Sorca, some great answers here already and I would agree with many. I think they answer different questions as well. So much to learn from both. Are you thinking of doing a study or a research degree? I used critical medical anthropology for my PhD - happy to chat if helpful.

I really enjoyed Birth In Four Cultures in my women and anthropology course. I recommend."Birth in Four Cultures was one of the first ethnographies to study cross-cultural systems of birth. "

You may wish to consider the specific course in Medical Anthropology at Brunel University, London. As an introduction to the subject you may consider the following text:

Helman C (1984) Culture, Health and Illness. Arnold. Dr Helman was an expert in the field of Medical Anthropology and this is a seminal introductory

text.

Anthropologists make use of historical data, but if you want to study history, then you should study history. You might want to take a look at Emily Martin's book The Woman in the Body. It's not about midwives, but it is closely related and would provide an example of an anthropological approach. There was also a good dissertation done on midwives in Japan about 25 years ago by Deb Fiedler at the University of Pittsburgh. Choice of discipline, however, really depends on what you want to do and what sort of methodology you are interested in using.

Dear Sorca,

yes, studiying anthropology will indeed provide you with the methodological and theoretical tools for analysing and understand historical as well as present social and culturals practices and concepts. i am working in Yemen and therea re some very good studies in anthropology about birthgiving in Yemen, such as Cynthia Mundy and others (just loo at google: Yemen childbirth)

It looks like the person who asked this interesting question has left the building, but I'm loving all the answers. I love the Birth in Four Cultures and The Woman in the Body books and another of my favourite books in this genre is Disembodying Women by German historian, Barbara Duden. Then there is Reading Birth and Death by Jo Murphy Lawless.

I took an independent study course with Dr. Robbie Davis-Floyd, the famous reproductive anthropologist. She is a passionate teacher and takes on students and independent studies. Contact her through her website. I have never read as much as I did that semester, and it was all so fantastic. She wrote Birth in Four Cultures, now Birth in Eight Cultures, and several other titles, all of which I recommend. I cannot state enough what a fantastic teacher she is.