{"title":"From Midwife to Lead Perinatal Practitioner: A Utopian Vision.","authors":"John Pendleton, Sally Pezaro","doi":"10.1111/birt.12913","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The professional title \"midwife\" is predicated on the understanding that people who access their services have a normative relationship between their gender and assigned sex. As trans and non-binary people increasingly require access to midwifery services, this paper proposes an alternative professional title that is inclusive and liberates midwives from continuously reinscribing the sex/gender binary in their nomenclature. We work with Levitas's Utopia as Method framework to propose the title of Lead Perinatal Practitioner. Working through the archaeological, ontological and architectural modes, we explain the rationale for each component part of the title. \"Lead\" foregrounds the profession's relationship with autonomy, which is considered foundational but threatened by encroaching medicalization. \"Perinatal\" encompasses not just the birthing person but also the neonate and the physiological process and timeframe encapsulating pregnancy and birth currently absent. \"Practitioner\" captures the reflexivity, skill, and active engagement already inscribed in allied healthcare professions that use this title. We argue that when combined, they signal a trailblazing contribution towards the eradication of gender inequalities in the reproductive arena by uncoupling the profession from patriarchal oppression inscribed in the sex/gender binary, which has hitherto been positioned as the sine qua non of midwifery.</p>","PeriodicalId":55350,"journal":{"name":"Birth-Issues in Perinatal Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Birth-Issues in Perinatal Care","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12913","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The professional title "midwife" is predicated on the understanding that people who access their services have a normative relationship between their gender and assigned sex. As trans and non-binary people increasingly require access to midwifery services, this paper proposes an alternative professional title that is inclusive and liberates midwives from continuously reinscribing the sex/gender binary in their nomenclature. We work with Levitas's Utopia as Method framework to propose the title of Lead Perinatal Practitioner. Working through the archaeological, ontological and architectural modes, we explain the rationale for each component part of the title. "Lead" foregrounds the profession's relationship with autonomy, which is considered foundational but threatened by encroaching medicalization. "Perinatal" encompasses not just the birthing person but also the neonate and the physiological process and timeframe encapsulating pregnancy and birth currently absent. "Practitioner" captures the reflexivity, skill, and active engagement already inscribed in allied healthcare professions that use this title. We argue that when combined, they signal a trailblazing contribution towards the eradication of gender inequalities in the reproductive arena by uncoupling the profession from patriarchal oppression inscribed in the sex/gender binary, which has hitherto been positioned as the sine qua non of midwifery.
期刊介绍:
Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care is a multidisciplinary, refereed journal devoted to issues and practices in the care of childbearing women, infants, and families. It is written by and for professionals in maternal and neonatal health, nurses, midwives, physicians, public health workers, doulas, social scientists, childbirth educators, lactation counselors, epidemiologists, and other health caregivers and policymakers in perinatal care.