ABSTRACT
This chapter is a brief overview of the theory on birth dirt and is based on the work ‘Birth dirt: relations of power in childbirth’ (Callaghan 2002). The term ‘birth dirt’ was coined to describe the theory which explains the power and/or dirt relationships in childbirth. Birth dirt exists, but its nature will vary depending on the time, the place and the culture. Who and what is clean or dirty similarly varies and will depend on and similarly create the discourses surrounding birth in the particular time, place and culture.
