Birth Chairs, Midwives, and Medicine

by Amanda Carson Banks

There was a time when birth was treated as a natural process rather than a medical condition. Before 1800, women gave birth seated in birth chairs or on stools and were helped along by midwives. Then societal changes in attitudes toward women and the practice of medicine made birthing a province of the male-dominated medical profession.

In Birth Chairs, Midwives, and Medicine , Amanda Carson Banks examines the history of the birth chair and tells how this birthing device changed over time. Through photographs, artists' renditions of births, interviews, and texts from midwives and early obstetricians, she creates an evolutionary picture of birthing practices and highlights the radical redefinition of birth that has occurred in the last two centuries.

During the 1800s the change from a natural philosophy of birth to a medical one was partly a result of heightened understandings of anatomy and physiology. The medical profession was growing, and with it grew the awareness of the economic rewards of making delivery a specialized practice. In the background of the medical profession's rise was the prevailing perception of women as fragile invalids. Gradually, midwives and birth chairs were relegated to rural and isolated settings.

The popularity of birth chairs has seen a revival in the late twentieth century as the struggle between medical obstetrics and the alternative birth movement has grown. As Banks shows through her careful examination of the chairs themselves, these questions have been answered and reconsidered many times in human history. Using the artifacts from the home and medical office, Banks traces sweeping societal changes in the philosophy of how to bring life into the world.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched. The author took her dissertation and transformed it into this scholarly book. Banks covers 200+ years of birth chair usage in North America and Europe. She explains why their architecture changed over time through the many data sge collected. Excellent read! 10/10 would recommend to those interested in the medicalization of birth and its impact on society

[Sam Nesbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well-written and illuminating history of the social perception of childbirth in the West from the Reformation era to the end of the 20th century. By tracing the development of the birth chair as an artifact of the philosophy of birth, Banks demonstrates the medicalization of the birth event and process. In pre-modern times, birth was widely seen as a natural process that midwives aided in, which is testified to by simple birth chairs that sit low off the ground. Over time, however, birth was perceived to be more of a medical crisis meant to be handled by doctors. The beginning of this process was facilitated by doctors attending and helping with difficult and dangerous births, which were then written of and widely distributed. With the rise of medical institutions, technological advancements, and medicine, the birth chair was changed to cater less to mothers and more to doctors. Banks captures different contours of this history and provides a fascinating case study for the relationship between mothers, their bodies, technology, medicine, and culture. This is a book every (expecting) mother should read.

[Caty Bilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting. Seeing the correlation between the evolution of birth chairs to the evolution of medicalized birth was fascinating.

[sofie jacobsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"No event, especially one as overlaid with cultural significance and popular wisdom as birth, can be technologically alone, devoid of symbolic and cultural significance." xvi

How we give birth and how we support the laboring mother has a vast ripple effect. Birth is a natural physiological event. It must be treated with the sacredness it requires. Birth is similar to the pinecone: an ordinary and everyday miracle that has the potential to grow into a large pine tree.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to admit, though some may find this hard to believe, but I didn't read this one for pleasure. This was for research for a conference paper. It was interesting though; the images were DISTURBING!