Contemporary Ukrainian Home Birth Customs

Abstract

This thesis examines contemporary homebirth practices in Ukraine. Following an overview of the Ukrainian ethnographic literature on childbirth as a life cycle event, this work explores contemporary childbirth as practised in the hospital setting and at home. Childbirth helps understand better the worldview of Ukrainians, their beliefs and values. Today, people who choose homebirth in Ukraine view childbirth as an event that deeply transforms the whole family and is an integral part of their identity. Their ideas about nature, family values and what constitutes health have strengthened arguments against the conventional approach to almost every facet of life. Contemporary Ukrainian homebirth practices also shed some light on the other dynamic processes in contemporary Ukrainian society, such as the distribution of power, gender issues, traditional family values and their (in)significance.