Bodies that Measure and are Measured, in the context of perinatal care

Perinatal care roughly consists of the period between the start of a pregnancy and up to a year after birth, although some health practitioners use the term to loosely include up to 2 years postpartum. A range of technologies are used for reading signs related to health and wellbeing during this period, from foetal heart monitors to devices for tracking infants’ breathing patterns, temperature, movement or sleep. Alongside these technologies, parents, midwives, health visitors and caregivers develop practices for measuring wellbeing that are non-numerical, sensorial and often culturally dependent. Although often not recognised as sufficiently scientific, these practices are nevertheless informally used in assessing wellbeing and are interwoven with knowledge emerging from monitoring technologies. This pictorial presents insights, reflections and examples of tools and metaphors used in such assemblages of practices, gathered through conversations and workshops with stakeholders, together with selected early design explorations addressing aspects of this topic.

• http://www.arts.ac.uk/maternal-machines
• http://www.yurman.co.uk