Medicalization of Childbirth

Paper Summary:

This essay examines the history of the medical model of childbirth and considers the effects of medicalization a natural process. The paper suggests that medicalization childbirth reinforces patriarchal power relations while often having negative effects on women's health.

From the Paper:

"The experience of childbirth in North America has undergone constant change since the decline of the midwife. It has been appropriated by men and by the medical establishment. It has been institutionalized and made unnatural. The positive effects of medical knowledge can be observed during difficult deliveries, however these occur relatively infrequently and their treatments are then applied to the greater population. The negative effects are most visible in women's health, but the medicalization of childbirth has also resulted in the loss of traditional knowledge systems, declining female control over the birthing process and the reinforcement of patriarchal power relations."

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