Psychedelic Birth
Oxford University Press eBooks February 19, 2019 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190232511.003.0004 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThis chapter examines home birth within the counterculture, where childbirth was seen as a path to spiritual transcendence. It traces unexpected intellectual exchanges between hippies, midwives, and psychiatrists about birth's meaning, fueled by developments in psychiatric research and psychoactive substances. Focusing on The Farm, a long-lasting hippie commune in Tennessee founded by travelers from San Francisco, the chapter shows how the founders brought tools from Communist China and Czechoslovakia. The story illustrates how alternative approaches to mainstream medicine, in both childbirth and psychiatry, emerged in the 1970s.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Counterculture Childbirth Mainstream Context archaeology Sociology |
| Key finding | Argues that the counterculture's view of childbirth as spiritual transcendence, combined with psychedelic psychiatry, created unexpected entanglements that contributed to alternative medical pathways in the 1970s. |
Abstract
Chapter 3, “Psychedelic Birth: The Emergence of the Hippie Midwife,” explores the home birth experience from the perspective of the counterculture. In this context, childbirth became a catalyst to spiritual transcendence. At the same time, new developments in psychiatric research and the proliferation of psychoactive substances created a vibrant, albeit surprising, intellectual exchange between hippies, midwives, and some psychiatrists about the meaning and significance of birth. This chapter exposes the resulting unexpected entanglements between psychedelic psychiatry and spiritual midwifery by focusing on the creation of the longest lasting hippie commune, The Farm. Though The Farm was established in Summertown, Tennessee, its founders traveled from San Francisco to build their utopia and they brought with them intellectual and practical tools gathered from as far away as Communist China and Czechoslovakia. The story illustrates how alternative pathways to mainstream medicine, in both childbirth and psychiatry, came into fruition in the 1970s.