NMHS43090 Women, Gender and Health

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module is designed to expand the student’s knowledge of concepts, theories and international research relating to gendered processes and practices mediating women’s health and healthcare. In particular, the module aims to develop the student’s critical thinking capacity in relation to understanding the social and cultural influences on women’s health at a global level, including those of gendering and medicalization. Topics include: equality and equity approaches to women’s heath in the context of feminist theory; the medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth; the technocratic regulation of fertility; and the politics and economics of infant feeding.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:


1. Compare and contrast of the concepts of equality and equity in relation to gender in the context of feminist theory.

2. Appraise the two opposing perspectives (obstetric and new-midwifery perspectives) on the safety and ethics of midwife-led maternity care.

3. Critically appraise scepticism from within some feminist perspectives around the production and use of new reproductive technologies (NRTs).

4. Discuss dominant and challenging discourses on infant feeding practices.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

36
Seminar (or Webinar)

12
Autonomous Student Learning

202
Total

250
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
A student-centred approach to learning is a key aspect of the module, along with self-directed learning. Most of the content is delivered by re-recorded podcasts, with schedule face-to-face classes spaced throughout the trimester. Students are provided with an outline of the module in the week prior to the module commencing.

In light of the COVID-19 situation, please stay alert to messages and announcements as this may impact on the usual way that this module is delivered. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Women, Gender and Health (NMHS41630)


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Essay Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

80
Assignment: Article review Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Written feedback is provided and will be available after the assignments have been graded.

De Vries R, Lemmens T. (2006) The social and cultural shaping of medical evidence: case studies from pharmaceutical research and obstetric science. Soc Sci Med. 62(11):2694-706.

De Vries, R. and Buitendijk SE (2012) Science, safety and place of birth – lessons from the Netherlands. Midwifery,29 (10) 1122–1128.

Ehrenreich, B. & English, D. (2010) Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. (Second edition). New York: The Feminist Press.

Ettore, E. & Kindon, C. (2012) Reproductive regimes: governing gendered bodies. The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare.

Faircloth C . (2013) Militant Lactivism? Attachment Parenting and Intensive Motherhood in the UK and France. Oxford: Berghahn.

Hatem M., Sandall J., Devane D., Soltani H., & Gates, S. (2009) Midwife-led versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4, Art No.:CD004667. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.

Jansson, M. (2009) Feeding children and protecting women: The emergence of breastfeeding as an international concern. Women's Studies International Forum, 32 240–248.

Lee, E. (2011) Breast-feeding advocacy, risk society and health moralism: a decade’s scholarship. Sociology Compass. 5(12). 1058-1069.

Lupton, D. (2012) Medicine as Culture (Third Edition). London: Sage

Marre, D., San Román B, & Guerra D (2018) On Reproductive Work in Spain: Transnational Adoption, Egg Donation, Surrogacy. Medical Anthropology 37(2):158-173.
Palmer, G (2009) The Politics of Breas
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Payne, S. & Doyal, L. (2012) The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare (Second Ed). Palgrave Macmillan.

Rollins NC, Bhandari N, Hajeebhoy N, Horton S, Lutter CK, Martines JC, Piwoz EG, Richter LM, Victora CG, on behalf of The Lancet Breastfeeding Series Group (2016) Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices? The Lancet, 387(10017), 491–504.

Smyth, D and Hyde A (2020) Discourses and critiques of breastfeeding and their implications for midwives and health professionals. Nursing Inquiry, https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12339

Victora, C. G. et al. (2016) ‘Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect’, The Lancet, 387(10017), pp. 475 – 490.

Waldby, C. (2008) Oocyte markets: women’s reproductive work in embryonic stem cell research. New Genetics and Society 27 (1) 19–31.

Watts, J.H. (2015) Gender, Health and Healthcare: Women's and Men's Experience of Health and Working in Healthcare Roles. London: Routledge.