Working-Class Women, Middle-Class Women, and Models of Childbirth

This paper suggests that middle-class feminists who have urged a new vision of childbirth are out of touch with the needs of working-class women. This conclusion is derived from a review of the childbirth literature and an analysis of data collected from 322 women who gave birth in a northern New England teaching hospital. The literature on childbirth—whether written from a feminist or non-feminist perspective—ignores the variable of social class. The data demonstrate, however, that working-class and middle-class women have different attitudes towards childbirth during pregnancy, different experiences during childbirth, and different post-partum evaluations of their childbirth experiences. A single set of prescriptions for childbirth may not, therefore, be appropriate for all women.