Ross, E. orcid.org/0000-0002-5165-7649 (2016) Locating the foetal subject: Uncertain entities and foetal viability in accounts of first-time pregnancy. Women's Studies International Forum, 58. pp. 58-67. ISSN 0277-5395
Abstract
Depictions of foetuses as fixed entities possessing personhood are powerful within public consciousness, and impact upon the care provided to women during pregnancy in the UK. This article draws on interviews with 15 women in Scotland experiencing a first-time pregnancy. Their accounts demonstrate that women’s own understandings of foetal entities may at times be ambiguous and uncertain, shaped by technological interventions, embodied knowledge and emotions in shifting ways throughout gestation. Interviewees' experiences were shaped by discourses of early pregnancy as ‘at risk’, which impacted upon their emotional engagement with their pregnancies. However, biomedical and technological means of knowing the pregnant body were not always perceived by participants as authoritative. ‘Foetal viability’ was an important milestone, allowing interviewees to conceptualise foetal entities as autonomous, and in some cases as persons. Feminist research may benefit from attending to accounts of foetuses as ambiguous and uncertain, which complicate dominant depictions of foetal subjects in academic as well as public discourse.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | |
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Women's Studies International Forum. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Pregnancy; foetal subject; foetal viability; embodiment; uncertainty |
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: | 27 Oct 2020 11:43 |
Last Modified: | 27 Oct 2020 11:43 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.wsif.2016.07.003 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:167232 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0