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MIDWAY THROUGH a year of anthropological fieldwork focused on the politics of reproduction in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2008, I found myself sitting on the floor with a group of midwifery activists, doulas, and feminist doctors. By this point in the circle, personal introductions had shifted into a discussion about how each participant identified the cultural and institutional obstacles Oaxacan women—particularly rural and indigenous ones—face in their ability to plan and birth children in safe and culturally competent settings. The group’s main critique focused on the normative birth model’s emphasis on medical authority and technological intervention rather than on pregnant women’s bodily experiences, cultural traditions, and personal preferences. Their challenge to this institutional birth paradigm reflects Mexican feminists’ embrace of an increasingly global movement for parto humano (humanized birth), which is sometimes translated as “respectful care.” Activists using the framework of parto humano emphasize that birth is a normal and embodied process that the laboring person should direct, and they stress that such women (and family)-centered approaches are in line with evidence-based medical guide-1. All direct quotations were either audio recorded and later transcribed or noted verbatim in field notes and then translated into English by me. Field note excerpts are elaborated versions of real time jottings I made. All communities and individuals have been given pseudonyms, per the ethics review conducted by New York University’s Institutional Review Board.