Sumud: Birth, Oral History, and Persisting in Palestine

by Livia Wick

Sumud, meaning steadfastness in Arabic, is central to the issues of survival and resistance that are part of daily life for Palestinians. Although much has been written about the politics, leaders, and history of Palestine, less is known about how everyday working-class Palestinians exist day to day, negotiating military occupation and shifting social infrastructure. Wick’s powerful ethnography opens a window onto the lives of Palestinians, exploring specifically the experience of giving birth. Drawing upon oral histories, Wick follows the stories of mothers, nurses, and midwives in villages and refugee camps. She maps the ways in which individuals narrate and experience birth, calling attention to the genre and form of these stories. Placing these oral histories in context, the book looks at the history of the infrastructure surrounding birth and medicine in Palestine, from large hospitals to village clinics, to private homes. As the medical landscape changed from centralized urban hospitals to decentralized independent caregivers, women increasingly carved a space for themselves in public discourse and employed the concept of sumud to relate their everyday struggles.

200 pages, Hardcover

Published January 3, 2023

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very informative yet infuriating book about life under occupation and childbirth for Palestinian women. Infuriating because of all the hardships that these women have to go through in order to give birth and deliver healthy babies. There are too many barriers to access for adequate pre and postnatal care.

My only critique about this book is that I would have loved to hear the stories of more mothers and midwives. Those were my favorite parts of the book. Overall I deeply enjoyed this book and would like to thank Livia Wick for sharing the stories of those who are often ignored by Western-media.