ABSTRACT
Based on data obtained via qualitative research, this chapter analyzes birth centers (BCs) in Mexico by describing and explaining what they offer; the surrounding conditions in which they function; and how they prepare women, couples and families for pregnancy, birth, puerperium, breastfeeding and newborn care. I interviewed 20 women (midwives, doulas and mothers who had given birth in these facilities) in different locations around the country. The results were analyzed in the framework of gender and health perspective to show the ways in which these BCs constructed a different way of giving birth, focused on consciousness and social aspects. This practice confronts the romantic idea(l) of the “naturalization” of birth in seeking to empower mothers to reclaim ownership of their births as body-territoriality. This practice is in opposition to the contemporary Mexican hegemonic medical system, which is highly dependent upon technology and allopathic pharmacology. The chapter also sheds light on how midwives and doulas, working in these BCs in urban zones, have managed to create spaces in which to give birth differently despite legal restrictions and the modern obstetric-gynecology (Ob-Gyn) sector’s lack of understanding and general disparagement of professional midwifery in the country.
