Robbie Davis-Floyd PhD,Senior Research Fellow, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin and Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology, is a medical anthropologist specializing in the anthropology of reproduction. An international speaker and researcher, she is author of over 80 articles and of Birth as an American Rite of Passage (1992, 2004); coauthor of From Doctor to Healer: The Transformative Journey (1998); and lead editor of 10 collections, including Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (1997); Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots (1998); and Mainstreaming Midwives: The Politics of Change (2006). Her most recent collection is Birth Models That Work (2009), which highlights optimal models of birth care around the world. Her research on global trends and transformations in childbirth, obstetrics, and midwifery is ongoing—her current research project studies the paradigm shifts of holistic obstetricians in Brazil. Birth Models That Work, Volume II: Birth on the Global Edge, co-edited with Betty-Anne Daviss, is in process. Robbie speaks frequently at national and international childbirth, obstetrical, and midwifery conferences around the world. She currently serves as Editor for the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI): 10 Steps to Optimal Maternity Care(www.imbci.org), Board Member of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO), Senior Advisor to the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction, and Associate Editor of Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
