Japanese American Midwives: Culture, Community, And Health Politics, 1880-1950 (asian American Experience)

In the late nineteenth century, midwifery was transformed into a new woman's profession as part of Japan's modernizing quest for empire. With the rise of Japanese immigration to the United States, Japanese midwives (sanba) served as cultural brokers as well as birth attendants for Issei women. They actively participated in the creation of Japanese American community and culture as preservers of Japanese birthing customs and agents of cultural change.The history of Japanese American midwifery reveals the dynamic relationship between this welfare state and the history of women and health. Midwives' individual stories, coupled with Susan L. Smith's astute analysis, demonstrate the impossibility of clearly separating domestic policy from foreign policy, public health from racial politics, medical care from women's care giving, and the history of women and health from national and international politics. By setting the history of Japanese American midwives in this larger context, Smith reveals little-known ethnic, racial, and regional aspects of women's history and the history of medicine. Susan L.Smith is an associate professor of history at the University of Alberta, Canada, and author of the award-winning "Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America, 1890-1950". This is a volume in "The Asian American Experience" series, edited by Roger Daniels. In the late nineteenth century, Japan's modernizing quest for empire transformed midwifery into a new woman's profession. With the rise of Japanese immigration to the United States, Japanese midwives (sanba) served as cultural brokers as well as birth attendants for Issei women. They actively participated in the creation of Japanese American community and culture as preservers of Japanese birthing customs and agents of cultural change. Japanese American Midwives reveals the dynamic relationship between this welfare state and the history of women and health. Susan L. Smith blends midwives'individual stories with astute analysis to demonstrate the impossibility of clearly separating domestic policy from foreign policy, public health from racial politics, medical care from women's caregiving, and the history of women and health from national and international politics. By setting the history of Japanese American midwives in this larger context, Smith reveals little-known ethnic, racial, and regional aspects of women's history and the history of medicine. In the late nineteenth century, midwifery was transformed into a new woman's profession as part of Japan's modernizing quest for empire. As immigrants to the U.S., Japanese midwives ("sanba") served as cultural brokers as well as birth attendants for Issei women. They actively participated in the creation of Japanese American community and culture as preservers of Japanese birthing customs and agents of cultural change. The history of Japanese American midwifery reveals the close connections between domestic policy and foreign policy, public health and racial politics, and medical care and women's caregiving. In The Late 19th Century, Midwifery Was Transformed Into A New Women's Profession By Modernizing Japan. As Emigration To The U.s. Increased, So Japanese Midwives Became Involved As Cultural Brokers & Participated In The Creation Of A Japanese American Identity. Creation Of The Sanba In Meiji Japan -- Race Relations, Midwife Regulations, And The Sanba In The American West -- Seattle Sanba And The Creation Of Issei Community -- Midwife Supervision In Hawai'i -- Militarization, Midwifery, And World War Ii. Susan L. Smith. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.