Privileges of Birth: Constellations of Care, Myth, and Race in South Africa

Focussing ethnographically on private-sector maternity care in South Africa, Privileges of Birth looks at the ways healthcare and childbirth are shaped by South Africa's racialised history. Birth is one of the most medicalised aspects of the lifecycle across all sectors of society, and there is deep division between what the privileged can afford compared with the rest of the population. Examining the ethics of care in midwife-attended birth, the author situates the argument in the context of a growing literature on care in anthropological and feminist scholarship, offering a unique account of birthing care in the context of elite care services.

Jennifer J. M. Rogerson is a social anthropologist trained in South Africa, currently based in the UK. Her work has explored social-ecological health, and more recently the ＂first 1000 days of life＂, under Fiona Ross’ Andrew W. Mellon research chair, which explores how early life is made social. She is currently a research associate, interested in family and care formations and how these relate to the recent turn in birthing, parenting and care movements.