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Practising childbirth activism: A politics of evidence

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Abstract

The literature on childbirth organisations focuses on their critique of medical definitions of birth practices, their efforts to promote ‘natural’ or ’normal’ birth, their espousal of choice rhetoric and their relationship to feminism. It says little, however, about the practices these organisations use to achieve their aims. Our study of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal and France explores the centrality of knowledge-based activities to childbirth activism. Through these activities, we show, organisations (i) elicit the emergence of a concerned public through constituting evidence about women’s experiences of childbirth and obstetric practices; (ii) produce evidence about obstetric practices from women’s perspectives; (iii) articulate this vision of obstetric practices with a critical appraisal of scientific literature; and (iv) make visible international networks of actors who share similar concerns and conceptions. Drawing upon our empirical data we propose the notion of evidence-based activism in order to capture the specificity of birth organisations’ modes of engagement and to describe what they bring about. Through evidence-based activism childbirth organisations get involved in policy making and become recognised as legitimate stakeholders; reframe the issues at stake; open debate with other stakeholders; and bring about changes in the health system. Knowledge-based activities also shape the missions and objectives of the organisations.

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Notes

  1. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the organisations we studied.

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Acknowledgements

This article is based on a European research project called EPOKS (European Patients’ Organizations in Knowledge Society), supported by the European Commission FP7. We warmly thank all the organisations that participated in our research, and especially those members who agreed to be interviewed and let us participate as observers in different meetings. Etaoine Howlett, postdoctoral researcher at University College Cork, conducted interviews and undertook a range of research tasks relating to the Irish element of the study. The UK case study was undertaken by Imogen Tyler, Celia Roberts and Candice Satchwell. Interviews cited here were conducted by Candice Satchwell. We also thank the anonymous reviewers who helped us to significantly strengthen our argument.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de sociologie de l’innovation, Mines-ParisTech, Paris, France

    Madeleine Akrich

  2. School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Cork, UK

    Máire Leane

  3. Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Celia Roberts

  4. Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    João Arriscado Nunes

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  1. Madeleine Akrich
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  2. Máire Leane
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Correspondence to Madeleine Akrich.

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Akrich, M., Leane, M., Roberts, C. et al. Practising childbirth activism: A politics of evidence. BioSocieties 9, 129–152 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/biosoc.2014.5

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