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Research Projects

Projects

PHILBIRTH UCM Professorship of Excellence Programme – Philosophy of Birth (PHILBIRTH-2)

Philosophy of Birth: A New Logos for Genos (FILNAC-2)

Professorship of Excellence Research Programme Echegaray CM-UCM

Complutense University of Madrid

 

This project is about why and how we should introduce birth into the canon of subjects explored by philosophy. Birth care brings to the fore fascinating philosophical questions: is a woman in labour a subject with full rights in practice as well as in theory? Can a labouring woman exercise her autonomy in a situation of maximum vulnerability but also maximum lucidity and awareness, as characterises the work of giving birth? What is the relationship between agency, capacity, and pain during and between contractions? Birth care proposes key questions relating to knowledge, freedom, and what it means to be a human being. Nonetheless, giving birth continues to be a blind spot in contemporary prevailing philosophy.

The project is supported by the Echegaray, CM-UCM and V-PRICIT Programme, Madrid.


VOICEs EU Research Programme – Controversies in Childbirth 

Marie S. Curie Research Project – Controversies in Childbirth: from Epistemology to Practices (VOICEs)

Faculty of Philosophy/The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St Catherine´s College

University of Oxford

 

The project ‘Controversies in Childbirth: from Epistemology to Practices (VOICEs)’ addresses a number of current debates on birth from engaged areas of philosophy and the medical humanities. It applies the epistemological theory of controversies to the values embedded in decision-making in the field aiming at developing a particular section of values-based practice to be used in a variety of clinical contexts around childbirth.

The project was supported by the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 787646 Controversies in Childbirth: from Epistemology to Practices (VOICEs).

Full report available.


PHILBIRTH Ministry of Economy in Spain Research Programme – Philosophy of Birth (PHILBIRTH-1)

Philosophy of Birth: Rethinking the Origin from Medical Humanities (PHILBIRTH-1)

Professorship of Excellence Research Programme CM-UCM

University of Alcalá, Madrid

 

This project addressed how our concepts of pregnancy and childbirth reflect our view of the world and of human being. Pregnancy and birth are unique human experiences, not comparable to any other. They involve the generation of a new human being through a deeply intimate process, that can transform not only the pregnant and labouring woman’s body, but also her understanding and assessment of herself and her environment.

The project was supported by the Program for Research, Development and Innovation Oriented to Societal Challenges, Ministry of Economy in Spain, AEI/FEDER/UE, 2016-19 (FFI2016-77755-R).