Rodante van der Waal

Rodante van der Waal (she/they, 1992) is a PhD-candidate and lecturer in Care Ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, and an independent midwife in Amsterdam. She has a BA in midwifery, and a BA and MA in Philosophy (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam. Her research focus is on obstetric violence and reproductive justice from feminist, decolonial, abolitionist, and care studies perspectives. Papers from her hand have been published in Agenda, Feminist Anthropology, Birth, and Nursing Ethics. She is a founding member of the Critical Midwifery Studies Collective and the editor of Contractions, a political podcast on midwifery.

New!

March 023: Article on the importance of making abortion with pills available at autonomous community midwifery practices in Medisch Contact.

February 2023: Poetry cycle on abortion, ‘Abortion pastels’, in De Gids.

February 2023: New website for Critical Midwifery Studies with an online course on Humanizing Birth, including lectures, reading materials, and visual notes, available for free.

February 2023: Podcast on autonomy and self-determination in childbirth with Mama’en.

December 2022: Information video on obstetric violence with Brainwash.

October 2022: Article in Dutch news paper Trouw on the danger of losing home birth and autonomous midwifery. Click here for the English version for ICM.

September 2022: New paper out! Obstetric violence: An intersectional refraction through abolition feminism in Feminist Anthropology.

August 2022: One-hour interview on Dutch public radio (NPO1, Human, Brainwash) on abortion, birth and obstetric violence

July 2022: New paper out! A Call for Critical Midwifery Studies by the CMS collective in Birth.

Summer School Humanizing Birth: Launching Critical Midwifery Studies happened! Click on the image below for a visual overview. For more info see: www.criticalmidwiferystudies.com