Relationships between bodies: contributions from the feminist epistemologies towards a situated obstetric practice

Abstract

In this essay, we contrast the prevailing technocratic model of childbirth care with practices based on other paradigms. Our aim is to provide an alternative to the interventionist model that has been consolidated throughout the history of modern obstetrics. At first, we discuss the emergence of a technocentric and universalizing obstetric practice, as childbirth becomes an object of knowledge of the scientific medicine. Afterwards, we carry out a reflection on the knowledge production itself, in order to present elements to support a practice that expresses another epistemic perspective. Inspired by Donna Haraway's contributions regarding the nature of objectivity, we propose a situated practice, which turns to the particular experiences of childbirth and incorporates other modes of knowledge production in the decision-making process.