Midwives' Tales. Stories of traditional and professional birthing in Samoa

Abstract

Our goal in publishing Midwives' Tales: Stories of Traditional and Professional Birthing in Samoa is to share with health care leaders Samoa's experience of moving maternity services into its own unique and sustainable system. The volume provides experience that can be used two ways; first, to challenge the assumptions stilI held in many postcolonial countries that a simple migration of Western-style, hospital-focused health care is necessarily a desirable or achievable goal; and, second, to demonstrate how one group has made considerable progress in reconceptualizing and developing a "postcolonial" or postmodern model of maternity care that works. (Davis-Floyd describes the midwife of the future, the postmodern midwife, in an unpublished paper. Lesley discusses this concept in chapter 1.) This model is moving towards integrating traditional systems and practitioners with the advantages of professional health care. We have designed this volume to allow the stories to communicate with the reader with minimal interpretation. The book is based on research that includes extensive discussions with professional leaders.