Aperitif

To set the scene of drinks and drinking in India, the Aperitif presents a translation from Pali of a previous birth story of the Buddha, The Birth Story of the Jar (Kumbha Jātaka), where we learn how a rogue discovered the drink called surā that had arisen spontaneously. Then he shared it with another man, and subsequently they learned to brew surā and propagated this dangerous yet attractive substance in the world. This short Buddhist tale gives some sense of the popular understanding of how brewing worked, and the story also illustrates some of the classic perceived dangers of drink and intoxication.

Childbirth matters: interpretative phenomenological analysis of British women's birthing experiences via emergency caesarean section, recounted on "YouTube".

The study examines YouTube video accounts of women's birthing experiences via emergency caesarean section using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Using an interpretivist theoretical perspective and a phenomenological methodology to gain an insight into their sense making during the birth of their child. A search on YouTube using the keywords "emergency c-section", "emergency caesarean section", "birth story emergency c-section" returned videos that matched the first criteria of the study; these were mainly women who had experienced a caesarean. However, the searches returned some elective procedures. A homogeneous sample was achieved by skimming through the videos and matching them with the inclusion criteria specified. Texts were transcribed and coded, then themes were identified across the texts. A screenshot from each text was taken to apply multimodal analysis when interpreting the experiences. Three master themes are discussed: "being medicalised", "experiences with medical staff", and "the experience of feelings"; along with their sub-themes, focussing on how women experienced each theme. The study is limited within its data collection method and analysis; however, it also offers strengths for future research. Future study should include discourse analysis around birth.

The Wicked “Sons of Eli” and the Composition of 1 Samuel 1–4

Scholars have struggled to reach consensus about the literary relationship between the anti-Elide material in 1 Sam 2–3 and the so-called “Ark Narrative” in 1 Sam 4–6. I propose a new resolution to this problem. I argue that the two named characters, Hophni and Phinehas, have been introduced secondarily to and independently from the unnamed “sons of Eli” and represent a redactional layer that runs through chs. 1–2, and 4. Before the addition of these characters, the “sons of Eli” designated a generic priesthood associated with the character, Eli. The material about this priesthood is comprised of discrete passages that have been appended to Samuel’s birth story and its extension. The anti-Elide material was later connected to 1 Sam 4 through the addition of Hophni and Phinehas, who serve to recast the Elides’ iniquities as the reason for the Israelite defeat and loss of the ark.

Introduction

This chapter uses a birth story to explore ideas of risk and to contrast obstetric and midwifery approaches to pregnancy and birth. It defines the concept of reproductive regimes, and specifically tort regimes and reproductive rights regimes. The chapter outlines the research methods of the study and the organization of the book.

A qualitative study exploring the experience of psychotherapists working with birth trauma

As many as 45% of women experience birth trauma. Psychotherapists’ knowledgeable insights are largely absent in literature, and therefore the objective of this research is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how psychotherapists in the UK experience the therapeutic process when working with women who have experienced a traumatic birth. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed to examine the data coming from psychotherapists working with birth trauma. Three ostensible areas of focus were revealed: i) Hearing the story: discovering the altered-self, ii) Working with the story: enabling redemption of the altered-self, and iii) Professional challenges and the wider story: advocating for the altered-self. Birth trauma commonly leads to an altered sense of self, intertwined with a perception of loss regarding the birth experience and autonomy. Working with the client’s birth story, to enable redemption and restore reasoning, is integral to the therapeutic process. Stabilisation and consideration of the presence of the baby are also significant. Integrating approaches produces positive outcomes. There is a purported gap in NHS services, professionals either lacking knowledge and misdiagnosing, or being limited by the emphasis placed on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. For the therapeutic process consider: the sense of loss associated with the birth; working with the client’s birth story to enable redemption and restore reasoning; the impact of the presence of the baby and the need for stabilisation; birth trauma as unique. For frontline health professionals: implementing existing screening protocols and undergoing training to recognise birth trauma may reduce misdiagnosis.

Semantische Äquivalenz in Geburtserzählungen: Anwendung von Word Embeddings

The present study focuses on serially occurring narrations of ‘everyday’ life, more specifically on birthing as narrated by mothers on online forums; the underlying idea being that these narrations happen against the background of cultural narratives.The present paper uses word embedding models to detect typical topics and actors in these narrations. The calculation of word embeddings automatically constructs semantic spaces, where semantic relations (synonymy in particular) can be modeled. This method offers a way to think of synonymy as ‘functional equivalence in discourse’.The present study relies on previous work with n-grams (Bubenhofer, 2018). N-grams are sequences of words that often appear together; their sequential order in different narrations gives insight in narrative patterns. A further step in the analysis is the construction of ‘narrative topoi’, which is achieved through clustering neighboring vectors. The emerging clusters can in turn be grouped into five narrative elements of ‘telling a birth story’: 1) disruption of daily life, 2) personnel, 3) body, 4) fear, 5) joy. While it seems obvious that certain themes ‘belong’ into the narration of a delivery, it is less obvious with what vocabulary these themes are expressed.The presented method of clustering word-embedding-profiles adds tremendously to the modelling of a narrative. Its advantages lie in its potential to show lexical variation, as it also includes rare, non-conformative orthographical variants. Furthermore, it allows for a discourse-specific (and usage-based) view on semantic relations. The same applies to relations between semantic clusters. Seen from a discourse linguistics or cultural analysis perspective, word embeddings renew our understanding of semantics. This shows particularly fruitful if used to analyze (discourse dependent) derivations between semantic spaces.

Postnatal consultations with an obstetrician after critical perinatal events: a qualitative study of what women and their partners experience

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to explore women’s and their partners’ experiences with attending postnatal consultations with an obstetrician after critical perinatal events.DesignQualitative interview study. We did semi-structured individual narrative interviews exploring the lived experiences. Interviews were analysed using a phenomenological approach and the thematic analysis was validated by a transdisciplinary group of anthropologists, obstetricians and a midwife.SettingDepartment of obstetrics at a large hospital in Denmark.ParticipantsWe did a qualitative study with 17 participants (10 women and 7 partners) who had experienced critical perinatal events.ResultsFive major themes were identified: (1) a need to gain understanding and make sense of the critical perinatal events, (2) a need for relational continuity, (3) the importance of discussing emotional effects as well as physical aspects of occurred events, (4) preparing for future pregnancies and (5) closure of the story.Most of the participants emphasised the importance of knowing the obstetrician undertaking the postnatal consultation. The majority of the participants described a need to discuss the emotional effects of the experience as well as the physical aspects of occurred events. The postnatal consultation served as an approach to obtain a positive closure of their birth story and to feel confident about potential future pregnancies.ConclusionsThis interview-based study suggests that postnatal consultation with an obstetrician might be an important tool for women and their partners in understanding the course of events during the critical birth experience and in processing it and preparing for future pregnancies. It appears to be important to assign an obstetrician whom they already know and to encourage them to discuss not only physical aspects of what happened but also the emotional effects of the experience.

Sin in the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew’s Gospel builds on the portrait of Jesus and sin found in Mark, but adds a birth story to make it clear that Jesus will save his people from their sins. Matthew thus invokes the significance of Jesus’ death already in the birth story. Although Joseph seeks to divorce Mary because she is scandalously pregnant with Jesus before they are married, Matthew goes out of his way to assure the reader that God has worked in similar fashion before with other women heroes of the faith: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) each of whom gave birth in seemingly scandalous circumstances. But like these women, Mary is righteous in the eyes of God and she faithfully bears Jesus regardless of outward appearances. This motif of righteousness continues in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), where we find a Jesus who stresses the moral disposition of one’s heart rather than mere outward observance of the Jewish law. Sin originates from within. Like Mark, Matthew’s Jesus will die a sacrificial death for the forgiveness of sins.