MOTHERS’ VOICES: KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND PARTICIPATION IN TEXTS ABOUT INUIT BIRTH

Abstract

Authors from various disciplines have described the experience of pregnancy and childbirth for Inuit women with diverse goals in mind, ranging from perspectives on colonization and contemporary self-determination, to policing lifestyle behaviours and assessing infant mortality and morbidity. This thesis uses the theories and methods of situated knowledges and ethnohistory to examine where, why, and how the perspectives of Inuit women as emerging mothers are integrated into the work of these authors. The infrequency of the inclusion of Inuit women’s first-hand experiences (in the contemporary context), across disciplines and research methods, is a key finding. In addition, what this omission connotes about the literature in question is examined, including the role played by authorial context and bias. Future qualitative research into the cultural and structural context of childbirth from an oral history perspective, and a focus on detailed and contemporary first person accounts of pregnancy and birth, are suggested.