Witnessing practices of resistance, resilience and kinship in childbirth: a collective narrative project

This article explores the influence of sociocultural narratives on stories of birth, and the use of individual and collective narrative practices in responding to these stories. It emerged from a research project that included 12-recorded conversations with individuals and couples about their experi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of narrative therapy and community work no. 4; pp. 36 - 49
Main Author Barton, Phoebe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Adelaide Dulwich Centre Publications 01.07.2017
Subjects
Birth
Births
Cesarean section
Child Health
Child Rearing
Childbirth & labor
Ethics
Family Relationship
Females
Feminism
Midwifery
Narratives
Native studies
Obstetrics
Pain
Parents
Pregnancy
Trauma
Violence
Womens health
United Kingdom > UK
Adelaide South Australia Australia
England
Australia
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Summary:This article explores the influence of sociocultural narratives on stories of birth, and the use of individual and collective narrative practices in responding to these stories. It emerged from a research project that included 12-recorded conversations with individuals and couples about their experiences of birth. The article describes narrative practices used in these conversations, including: re-authoring and the development of alternative storylines, particularly in response to stories of grief and regret about birth; deconstructing and externalising the context and narratives of birth, turning the gaze back onto structural or systemic issues rather than those at their affect; re-membering and strengthening stories of membership and connection during pregnancy, birth and early parenting; and the absent but implicit, including pain as testimony. The article discusses the methodology and ethics of a collective narrative project that included the production of a document that elevates the insider knowledges of storytellers about their experiences of birth. All stories have been shared with permission from storytellers and using pseudonyms.
ISSN:1446-5019