Birth Rites and Rights

This multi-disciplinary collection of essays from the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group is concerned with the varying circumstances, manner, timing, and experiences of birth. It contains essays from a wide range of disciplines including law, medicine, anthropology, history, and sociology, examining birth from the perspectives of the mother, doctor, midwife, and father. Questions considered in the book include: Who has power during the birthing process? How has the experience of birth changed over time? Should birth mark a significant change in the legal status of the fetus? What is the proper role of birth registration? What role, if any, do fathers have in the birthing process? How should the law respond to still birth? What legal rights should a woman have to refuse treatment during the birthing process? What is the significance of changes of the age at which women give birth? Written by experts in the field, this stimulating collection of papers provides new insights into one of life's most momentous moments.