ORCID

Abstract

Inscriptions on graph paper, on monitors and on various screensare ubiquitous in the birthing room; they reassure, worry, beep,light up and inform protocols. According to Latour (1985) theirpresence is not a result of a carefully planned logical choice, butof a legacy of mustering allies and convincing alignments. UsingBarad’s (2007) framework of agential realism, this paper explores thenotion of intra-actions between objects and agencies of observationin the phenomenon of birth, using a socio-political and historicalconfiguration. It presents some surprising accounts of obstetricsand gynaecology and showcases how historical inscriptions andinstruments materialized today’s birthing practices. It then presentshow, upon entering the birthing room, one notices that the presenceof instruments and inscriptions overshadows many other powerfulactors at play. These other actors, such as atmosphere, presence,hormonal systems, memories, consciousness, relationship to pain,the sense of self are intangible and often not sufficiently attendedto during childbirth even though literature shows their critical rolefor positive birth outcomes. Using post Actor Network Theory andmedical scenographies (Neumann, 2021), this paper attempts to startan inquiry around the role of one of these intangible actors in thebirthing room, namely the symphony of hormones (Odent, 2018),and explore their dynamic, porous, multiple nature (Mol, 2002;Neimanis, 2021). It then concludes by inquiring whether identifyingthe intra-actions of a fuller spectrum of actors in the room, bothinscribed and intangible, invites the co-emergence (Ettinger, 2006) ofnew layers of actors and thus reconfigures the phenomenon of birthand its transformative potential.

Publication Date

2022-01-01

Publication Title

Transtechnology Research Reader

Publisher

University of Plymouth

Acceptance Date

2022-11-13

Deposit Date

2026-05-14

Keywords

Midwifery, medical technology, Phenomenology, Scenography, hormones, Embodiment, Consciousness

First Page

64

Last Page

89

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