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Accepted Paper:
The social and political context of birth: the strategies and challenges of teaching critical medical anthropology within midwifery education.
Melania Calestani
(Kingston University)
Paper short abstract:
Within their public health training, midwives need to engage with wider determinants of health and critically analyse public health strategies. This paper will analyse challenges emerging in postgraduate midwifery education and research, and strategies when it comes to the teaching of anthropology.
Paper long abstract:
Student midwives are taught to critically analyse the socio-political influences affecting childbearing and the changing context of maternal care provision. In particular, within their public health training, they need to engage with wider determinants of health and critically analyse public health strategies. In this context critical medical anthropology is introduced to bridge the analysis between the micro sphere and the macro structure, with the aim to shift attention from individual lifestyles to structural factors affecting the health of women and birthing people. However, the everyday world of clinical practice is filled with paradoxes around who defines knowledge, how it is constructed, and how the individual midwife applies it when providing care for women, birthing people and their families. This paper will analyse contrasting epistemological perspectives and challenges faced in postgraduate midwifery education and research, and the strategies adopted to overcome emerging issues.