“To Change the World, We Must First Change the Way the Babies Are Being Born”: Childbirth Activism in Europe

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an excellent, well-crafted manuscript with a tight focus and well-documented findings. It integrates well with global work on this issue and uses four well-defined European exemplars.  It speaks to an issue of both chidbirth respect and reproductive justice. The referenece to Odent is good--brings forth the historical perspectives. Overall, I think it is a very well done and worthy paper that needs to be published.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your comments on my work. The manuscript was improved considering the revisions and suggestions made by the referees, particularly focusing on the methodological design and the English editing. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This manuscript engages with childbirth campaign materials in order to elucidate the themes of childbirth activism in various European nations, with a focus on emergent, alternative themes that diverge from traditional conceptions, which were less woman-centered. I found the manuscript interesting. 

The author chose an important topic that can potentially add to the literature on the paradigms of childbirth and motherhood. However, the methodological procedures, delineated in the abstract and the materials and procedures section, were largely absent from the manuscript.  As stated in the abstract, "For such, I mobilize empirical data resulting from a plural meth-odology, based on documentary analysis, interviews and participant observation in the different 19 settings."  Although the author analyzes *documents, I cannot find interview or participant observation analysis, despite rereading the manuscript several times. 

I would also urge the author to include citations regarding the scientific soundness of the methodological choice to analyze documents as this could strengthen the manuscript.  

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Although not the focus of peer reviewers, I would like to address some specific language edits that need to be made. As many authors speak English as a second language, my comments are not intended to devalue the author or manuscript, but rather to be constructive. However, extensive corrections are needed:

-The author may choose to use "the author" instead of "I" throughout.

-For the sake of consistency, the Oxford comma should be used throughout, as illustrated in lines 71 and 162

13: "I explore" (delete "in this paper"). Consider "the author explores"

18: Delete "for such"

20: Should read, "Preliminary results illustrate how childhood..."

23: Use "has" instead of "shows"

30: Use "What narrative societies are..."

36: Delete "the" preceding "second"

37: "Antagonized" used incorrectly

38: "Hide" instead of "hiding"

40: "1970s" (delete apostrophe)

40: "Garnering" instead of "getting"

43-46: Sentence fragment (needs editing)

47: Delete "the" before "social life"

49: Replace "became" with "are"

53: Replace "on" with "of"

55: Comma needed before "which"

56: Include "as it is" before "able" 

59: Delete "of childbirth"

62: Delete comma after "popularized"

62. Period after "countries"

63: Replace "at their beginnings" with "in the initial stages" 

81-82: Needs proper citation

82: Delete "For all what it represents" or restate

100: Replace "deriving" with "derived" 

128: Delete double parentheses "))"

136: Capitalize "ours"

140: Use "especially"

141: For "instance"

142: Replace "being" with "as it is"

148: Delete "on"

150: Replace "in" with "on"

152: "high", not "hight"

153: Replace "in" with "during"

165: Delete "))"

179: Delete "also"

181: Needs clarification: "Members were founded"

191: Replace "in" with "on"

192: Replace "another" with "other" and delete proceeding comma

201: Replace "that" with "who"

256: Delete "s" from "advices"

257-261: Run-on sentence. Needs to be condensed with more succinct language

296: Use "But other methods that echo childbirth activism..." or something similar, like "other methods that incorporate childbirth activism," etc. 

298: Apostrophe needed after "s" in "mothers" and "infants"

302: Change to "foreseeing"

309: Change "in the ENCA" to "on"

 

Author Response

Thank you very much for your comments.  Changes in the methodological section were made, in order to clarify the role of different techniques and empirical sources in the work.  References (Denzin, 1978; Scott, 1990) regarding methodological options were also included.
Regarding editing revisions, thank you for the invaluable attention dedicated to my work. Your recommendations and comments on English editing were taken into consideration, and necessary changes were implemented. The manuscript was finally subject to an extensive review by a native English speaker.

Considering your comment on the lines 81-82 “81-82: Needs proper citation”, I have to say that, although the quotation is attributed to Michel Odent on various occasions (encapsulating the idea that the author develops in several works and lectures), it’s being quite difficult to define the exact origin of this quotation. It is widely disseminated across various platforms, websites, blogs, texts, and interviews with the author. In an interview to a Portuguese journalist (published in 2023), Michel Odent mentioned that he had written this phrase “a long time ago, perhaps in 1976”, without specifying its origin. As far as I could tell, 1976 was the year the Odent’s book “Entering the World” was published. However, I can’t guarantee that the emblematic quotation appears in that work. A footnote explaining this issue was added to the manuscript. 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research topic is interesting and important for improving the well-being of women during their childbirth process.

However, in my opinion, it is important to expand and detail the method and materials chapter so that we understand the nature of the organizations that were studied, and who are the representatives whose words you relied upon in the research (their roles and area of ​​expertise).

Author Response

Thank you very much for your comments on the manuscript. Changes in the methodological section were made, in order to clarify the role of different techniques and empirical sources in the work.  References (Denzin, 1978; Scott, 1990), regarding methodological options were also included.

The characteristics, nature and functioning of the organizations are explained in the result section, as these issues are part of the research object.

Due to the side or complementary role of the representatives in the data collection process, the manuscript does not include the characterization of these people. The interviews/conversations took place with members who participated in the ENCA meeting that year on behalf of their national organizations. Particular topics such as their role or area of expertise were not addressed in those conversations.

The manuscript was generally improved taking into account revisions and suggestions made by the referees and it was also subject to an extensive English revision.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I compliment this author for doing the hard work of writing a peer-reviewed article *not* in their native tongue. This is an impressive skill. 

Line 114: "complemented by 113 informal conversations and interviews with representatives of the organizations, and participant observation at meetings (Scott, 1990)."  It is unclear why you're using the Scott citation. Please explain within the text. 

Line 262: "institutionalization of birth has implied big changes in birth care." Use "has led to" instead of "implied"

Line 285: "According to childbirth activists, respecting the physiology of childbirth is synonymous with respecting the times of childbirth, considering that nature is wise." I think this is a translation issue. I'm not sure what "times of childbirth means" and although I think I may know what "considering nature is wise means," I'd rewrite so that a larger audience can understand. It appears to be an idiom. 

Line 352: "this paper shed a light on the role of social movements in the..." Use "sheds light"

Line 269: "and interest to in establishing intersections and sharing agenda with..." delete "to"

I still don't see any interviews in the manuscript. I would delete or indicate that, although it was part of your original research, it will be addressed in a subsequent publication. ("based on documentary analysis, complemented by interviews"). 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor edits. 

Author Response

Comment 1-  I compliment this author for doing the hard work of writing a peer-reviewed article *not* in their native tongue. This is an impressive skill.

Response 1- Thank you. I believe your careful and attentive previous review helped a lot to improve the text.

Comment 2 - Line 114: "complemented by 113 informal conversations and interviews with representatives of the organizations, and participant observation at meetings (Scott, 1990)."  It is unclear why you're using the Scott citation. Please explain within the text.

Response 2- Thank you for your observation. Scott's work is a reference for research based on different sources of information, and my intention was to cite the author when describing the diversity of my own empirical sources. However, I agree that the reference to Scott in that passage is confusing and unnecessary. For this reason, I decided to remove the citation.

Comment 3 - Line 262: "institutionalization of birth has implied big changes in birth care." Use "has led to" instead of "implied"

Response 3- Done. Thank you!

Comment 4 - Line 285: "According to childbirth activists, respecting the physiology of childbirth is synonymous with respecting the times of childbirth, considering that nature is wise." I think this is a translation issue. I'm not sure what "times of childbirth means" and although I think I may know what "considering nature is wise means," I'd rewrite so that a larger audience can understand. It appears to be an idiom.

Response 4 - Thank you for your comment. I rewrote the sentence as follows: “Childbirth activists believe that respecting the natural process of giving birth also means honoring the time it takes, as they trust that nature knows best.”

Comment 5 - Line 352: "this paper shed a light on the role of social movements in the..." Use "sheds light"

Response 5 - Done. Thank you.

Comment 6 - Line 269: "and interest to in establishing intersections and sharing agenda with..." delete "to"

Response 6 -Done. Thank you. (Line 370 in the current version of the revised manuscript)

Comment 7 - I still don't see any interviews in the manuscript. I would delete or indicate that, although it was part of your original research, it will be addressed in a subsequent publication. ("based on documentary analysis, complemented by interviews").

Response 7 - I understand and appreciate your idea. I thought the "complementary function" of the interviews had already been made clear when I explained that the research was based on different empirical collection techniques, with documentary analysis being the main one. Both interviews/conversations with the representatives and participant observation were accessory/side techniques that basically served to confirm or deepen the information resulting from the documentary research (in line with a triangulation approach). However, to avoid misunderstanding and the expectation of a more systematic analysis of those testimonies, I chose to delete the word “interviews” and only use the terms “conversations” and “direct contact with representatives” in the current (revised) version of the manuscript.

Thank you very much for all your care and attention in reviewing my work.