Obstetric violence within students’ rite of passage: The reproduction of the obstetric subject and its racialised (m)other
Date
2021Author
van der Waal, Rodante
Mitchell, Veronica
Bozalek, Vivienne
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Building on the work of Mbembe (2019) and Silva (2007), we theorise how the obstetric institution can still be
considered fundamentally modern, that is, entangled with colonialism, slavery, bio- and necropolitics and
patriarchal subjectivity. We argue that the modern obstetric subject (doctor or midwife) representing the
obstetric institution engulfs the (m)other in a typically modern way as othered, racialised, affectable and outerdetermined, in order to constitute itself in terms of self-determination and universal reason.
While Davis-Floyd (1987) described obstetric training as a rite of passage into a technocratic model of childbirth,
we argue that students’ rite of passage is not merely an initiation into a technological model of childbirth. The many
instances of obstetric violence and racism in their training make a more fundamental problem visible, namely that
students come of age within obstetrics through the violent appropriation of the (m)other.
We amplify students’ curricular encounters in two colonially related geopolitical spaces, South Africa and the
Netherlands, and in two professions, obstetric medicine and midwifery, to highlight global systemic tendencies
that push students to cross ethical, social and political boundaries towards the (m)other they are trained to care
for. The embedment of obstetric violence in their rite of passage ensures the reproduction of the modern
obstetric subject, the racialised (m)other, and institutionalised violence worldwide.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Diffracting reflection: a move beyond reflective practice
Mitchell, Veronica (UNISA Press, 2017)Reflective practice has become a core component in higher education studies. In the health sciences, reflective tasks are required throughout the undergraduate programmes, yet many students struggle to find value in these ... -
Leadership and the functioning of maternal health services in two rural district hospitals in South Africa
Lembani, M.; Jackson, D.; Zarowsky, C.; Bijlmakers, L.; Sanders, David; Mathole, Thubelihle (Oxford University Press, 2018)Maternal mortality remains high in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, despite over 90% of pregnant women utilizing maternal health services. A recent survey showed wide variation in performance among districts in the ... -
Assessment of quality of care in the management of postpartum haemorrhage: A review of selected maternal death cases
Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha (African Association for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 2015)Obstetric haemorrhage was the third most common cause of maternal death in South Africa for the triennium 2008 to 2010, increasing from the rate in 2005 to 2007. The major causes of death from haemorrhage remained similar ...