This website decodes the messages conveyed by hospital birth rituals otherwise known as "standard procedures for normal birth". These ritual procedures, common in many American hospitals, make birth appear to conform to the technocratic model and babies appear to have been produced by society. Each procedure is explained in detail in the body of the chapter.
Presence of
Partner/Separation from Partner
Replacement of Clothes With Hospital Gown
Artificial Rupture of the Membranes (Amniotomy)
External Electronic Fetal Monitor
Internal Electronic Fetal Monitor
Epidural/Caudal
Analgesia/Anesthesia
"You're 10 Centimeters-Now Push!"/"Don't Push!"
Sterile Sheets, Disinfectant, and
Hand-Strapping
Episiotomy (And Some Notes on Forceps
and the Cesarian Section)
Four- To Twelve-Hour Separation
Summary: Birth Rituals and Society
Wheelchair