Ross, E. (2019) Gestating bodies: sensing foetal movement in first-time pregnancy. Sociology of Health & Illness, 41 (1). pp. 95-111. ISSN 0141-9889
Abstract
A large body of literature engages with personal accounts of pregnancy to illustrate the subjugation of women's embodied experience by practices of biomedicine. This article explores this issue through women's accounts of sensing initial foetal movement, drawn from qualitative interviews with 15 women resident in the UK. Participants depict this aspect of pregnant embodiment as ambiguous and indefinite, in contrast to clinical and popular representations of foetal movement. In highlighting the uncertainties characteristic of this corporeal event, the article adds to literature destabilising understandings of pregnant women's and foetal bodies as bounded and distinct. Ambiguous experiences of foetal movement arise in the context of sociocultural framings of pregnancy as ‘at risk’, and in turn, may be seen to contribute to these representations, with some participants articulating that uncertain sensations could provoke anxiety. In this article, perceptions of foetal movement are emphasised as valuable to women, and as inextricable from the social settings in which they emerge. This research has implications for sociological and feminist discussions of pregnancy, and work exploring the mutual shaping of corporeality and sociocultural contexts more widely.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Sociology of Health & Illness. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | embodiment; pregnancy; foetal movement |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 26 Oct 2020 11:14 |
Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2020 11:14 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1467-9566.12809 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:167177 |