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Hi Carol and list What is 'new' midwifery? Maybe part of the argument revolves aroud the meaning of 'new' in relation to midwifery. What is 'old' midwifery and what is 'midwifery'. I agree there is no intrinsic affinity between 'feminism' (what is 'feminism'?)as it is understood & midwifery, the affinity has been created and sculpted by society. The recent studies into the biological differences between men & womens behaviours might be useful to start with. Why are women, on average, nuturung & caring while men are competitive & less caring. The studies carried out by Ernie Govier and Helen Fisher are interesting & provide compelling evidence that our behaviour is biologically determined. It is inate in women to gravitate towards each other in childbirth as a birthing woman is vulnerable to predators. We are a successful species because of strategies like this. In my years of midwifery I have often wondered why it always seemed easy to establish a rapport with a woman in labour who had never met me before. I believe it is a survival strategy. These are just some thoughts. My references for Ernie Goviers papers are in my office, but his work is recent. Also there are some interesting papers by Robbie Davis-Floyd, Michel Odent & Marsden Wagner on ideologies in relation to midwifery. I found them on the web through the Elsevier Science web-site. Here is the link. (I think I was put on to it originally by this list). http://www.elsevier.com/gej-ng/10/22/53/35/35/show/ Hope this is useful Carol. See you in Darwin. Jenny [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]