ABSTRACT

Social movements1 demanding peace, protection of the environment, and equal rights for women and ethnic minorities swept Northern Europe and North America in the 1960s and 1970s. These movements evoked passion, caused unrest, and promoted social change. The alternative birth movement (ABM) was one of the many social movements of this time period. Drawing on movements promoting the rights of women and minorities, the ABM arose to help women reclaim their agency in childbirth. The movement was most visible in North America, although it was also evident in some European countries, notably the United Kingdom (see Chapter 13). The greater strength of the ABM in North America is due, in part, to the connection between the movement and efforts to restore and preserve midwifery. In the United States and Canada, unlike in Western Europe, midwifery was essentially eliminated by the middle of the twentieth century. Thus the ABM in North America had two tasks: reform of “medicalized” birth and the establishment of professional midwifery.