contractions: the politics of midwifery

dr. Elizabeth Newnham  is a midwife, researcher and teacher at Griffith University, Australia. She studies the way in which power and knowledge function in obstetrics from a Foucauldian framework. She is the author of the book Towards the Huminisation of Birth: a Study of Epidural Analgesia and Hospital Birth Culture.

Further reading: 

• Newnham (2015) Birth control: Power/knowledge in the politics of birth.
• Newnham (2017) Paradox of the institution: findings from a hospital labour ward ethnography. 
• Newnham (2017) ‘It's your body, but…’ Mixed messages in childbirth education: Findings from a hospital ethnography. 

EDIT: In the episode we've stated incorrectly that dr. Newnham works at Queensland University. This is not the case. She works at Griffith University, which is in Queensland.

Contractions is produced by Rodante van der Waal and Vinny Taylor. 
Contact: [email protected]