ABSTRACT
Based on a literature review, and using the theories of situated knowledges, this chapter analyzes the developments of politically situated Mexican midwiferies in historical, multiscale perspective. In this way, the chapter sheds light on the historically “meandering paths” of professional and traditional midwiferies. The theories of situated knowledges, originally born within Western feminist studies but currently also at the intersection of subaltern and postcolonial fields, enable me to position the midwives I describe in differing historical, contemporary and multiscale contexts. The chapter fundamentally shows how midwifery escapes easy binary divisions and is immersed in complex societal stratifications. The chapter discusses the ways in which the modernization of professions places contemporary midwifery in dilemmas of different sorts, but particularly by converting midwifery into an urban, middle-class profession, with consequences that are particularly felt in rural, traditional/Indigenous contexts. In the context of women’s movements and rights, a postmodern or autonomous midwifery has emerged. The concept of autonomy, this chapter concludes, is particularly relevant for contemporary Mexican midwiferies as something for which midwives struggle, and which simultaneously reflects their fragile positioning between the professional, modern midwife and the traditional/Indigenous midwife.
