The Rhetoric of Midwifery: Gender, Knowledge, and Power

What roles should midwives play within our healthcare system? Must they have certified degrees and be under the jurisdiction of a professional board? Do notions of gender create competition and erect barriers between the medical professions? The Rhetoric of Midwifery offers new insights into understanding these questions within the context of our present-day medical system.

As a point of departure, Mary M. Lay analyzes the public discussion over non-academically trained-or direct-entry-midwives within Minnesota. From 1991-1995, that state held public hearings about the possible licensing of traditional midwives. Lay focuses on these debates to examine the complex relationships of power, knowledge, and gender within the medical profession.

Lay examines the hearings and provides a framework for appreciating the significance of these debates. She also details the history of midwifery, highlighting ongoing concerns that have surfaced ever since the profession was created, centuries ago.

In the remaining chapters, she focuses on the key testimonies offered during the debates. Capturing the actual testimony of midwives, home-birth parents, nurses, physicians, and attorneys, The Rhetoric of Midwifery reveals how the modern medical profession seeks to claim authority about birth. Lay bolsters her argument by culling from such sources such as historical documents, an internet discussion group, and conversations with modern midwives

As our medical healthcare system continues to undergo convulsive change, The Rhetoric of Midwifery will continue to enlighten, challenge, and inform.

Mary Lay is professor of rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, and director of its graduate rhetoric and scientific and technical communication program. She is the author of several books on technical writing and communication, and is the co-editor of Body Talk: Feminist and Rhetorical Studies of Reproductive Sciences.