Article ID: CBB433803030

Music to My Ears: A Material-semiotic Analysis of Fetal Heart Sounds in Midwifery Prenatal Care (January 2022)

unapi

Unlike sonographic examinations, sonic fetal heartbeat monitoring has received relatively little attention from scholars in the social sciences. Using the case of fetal heartbeat monitoring as part of midwifery prenatal care in Germany, this contribution introduces music as an analytical tool for exploring the aesthetic dimensions of obstetrical surveillance practices. Based on ethnographic stories, three orchestrations are compared in which three different instruments help audiences to listen to what becomes fetal heartbeat music and to qualify fetal and pregnant lives in relation to each other. In the Doppler-based orchestration, audible heartbeat music is taken as a sign of a child in need of parental love and care cultivated to listen. The Pinard horn makes esoteric fetal music that can be appreciated by the midwife as a skilled instrumentalist alone and helps to enact a child hidden in the belly. The cardiotocograph brings about soothing music and a reassuring relationship with a child but also durable scripts of juridical beauty. This material-semiotic analysis amplifies how well-being is shaped in midwifery prenatal care practices.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB433803030/

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Authors & Contributors
Kellie Owens
Tironi, Manuel
Bruyninckx, Joeri
Julia Alejandra Morales-Fontanilla
Vivienne Moore
Marshall, Owen
Concepts
Sound
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Music
Technology and music
Ethnography
Sound Recording Industry
Time Periods
21st century
20th century, early
20th century
Early modern
Modern
20th century, late
Places
Germany
United States
Havana, Cuba
Tokyo (Japan)
Singapore
Colombia
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