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Women's childbirth preferences and practices in the United States

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  • Miller, Amy Chasteen
  • Shriver, Thomas E.

Abstract

Over the past two decades, research on childbirth worldwide has documented women's varied perceptions of and decision-making regarding childbirth. Scholars have demonstrated the impact of medical authority, religion, perception of risk, and access to care providers on the decisions women make about where to have their babies and with whom. Virtually all research on how women make these choices, however, has focused outside the United States. To address this gap in the literature, we analyze data collected during 2004–2010 through 135 in-depth interviews with women in the U.S. who have had hospital births, homebirths with midwives, and homebirths without professional assistance to explore the factors that led them to the births they had. We supplement these interview data with archival analysis of birth stories and ethnographic data to offer additional insight into women's birth experiences. In our analysis, we utilize Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of “habitus” and “field” to examine the ways women's preferences emerge and how a sense of risk and safety shape their decision-making around pregnancy and parturition. Our findings indicate that while women's birth preferences initially emerge from their habitus, their birth practices are ultimately shaped by broader structural forces, particularly economic position and the availability of birth options.

Suggested Citation

  • Miller, Amy Chasteen & Shriver, Thomas E., 2012. "Women's childbirth preferences and practices in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 709-716.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:4:p:709-716
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.03.051
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bryant, Joanne & Porter, Maree & Tracy, Sally K. & Sullivan, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Caesarean birth: Consumption, safety, order, and good mothering," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1192-1201, September.
    2. Edwin van Teijlingen & Sirpa Wrede & Cecilia Benoit & Jane Sandall & Raymond DeVries, 2009. "Born in the USA: Exceptionalism in Maternity Care Organisation among High-Income Countries," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 14(42), pages 52-11, January.
    3. Namey, Emily E. & Lyerly, Anne Drapkin, 2010. "The meaning of "control" for childbearing women in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 769-776, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Diamond-Brown, Lauren, 2016. "The doctor-patient relationship as a toolkit for uncertain clinical decisions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 108-115.
    2. Baji, Petra & Rubashkin, Nicholas & Szebik, Imre & Stoll, Kathrin & Vedam, Saraswathi, 2017. "Informal cash payments for birth in Hungary: Are women paying to secure a known provider, respect, or quality of care?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 86-95.
    3. Smith-Oka, Vania, 2012. "Bodies of risk: Constructing motherhood in a Mexican public hospital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2275-2282.
    4. Nelson, Hyeyoung Oh, 2024. "Experiencing birth trauma: Individualism and isolation in postpartum," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).

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