Centering C-Section Narratives in Birth Discourse

Abstract

This thesis examines narratives of C-section experiences to understand the personal perspective of a national conversation on medicalized birth. Birth statistics, child health, and reproductive rights, are often the focus of C-section studies. However, these approaches often exclude the perspectives of those experiencing the C-section. By centering narratives, we regain an understanding of what it means to experience a C-section in a system of medicalized birth. The analysis includes authoritative knowledge, self-education, and becoming a mother. Using narrative as an anthropological tool allows us to enlighten a topic that is so heavily studied through lenses of observation and data collection.