Fetal views: histories and habits of looking at the fetus in Germany

This article examines historical and ideological trajectories that have made looking at the fetus via ultrasound a normal part of being pregnant for many women around the world. How did looking into so unlit a bodily space as the uterus become so natural? So everyday? So habit-forming? The answers l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of medical humanities 2007-12, Vol.28 (4), p.187-212
Main Author: Erikson, Susan L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female
Fetus
Germany
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Humans
Pregnancy
Ultrasonography, Prenatal - history
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Summary:This article examines historical and ideological trajectories that have made looking at the fetus via ultrasound a normal part of being pregnant for many women around the world. How did looking into so unlit a bodily space as the uterus become so natural? So everyday? So habit-forming? The answers lie in the convergence over time of technological hardware with knowledge practices that moved from medical to public domains. Germany serves as a site for an interrogation of how learned ways of thinking about anatomy, the development of technologies that "look," a privileging of the visual in medical domains, and seeing as metaphor for truth about health reinforced and normalized prenatal ultrasound use.
ISSN:1041-3545
1573-3645
DOI:10.1007/s10912-007-9040-2