Childbirth                                         and its accompanying rituals

This book seeks to fill an important gap

in the research about the anthropology of

birth and death.

Whereas studies on death rituals have resulted

in an elaborate body of theories concerning the channelling of emotions, the socialising of grief

and anger and the social construction of present

and past life, studies on childbirth rituals are

usually to be found in either feminist works or

works on medical anthropology concerned with

the health of mother and child.

The articles in this book look into childbirth and

its accompanying rituals in the context of its

social significance and its potential to articulate central values and concepts.