Medicalisation of Childbirth

 

Introduction

For the benefit of this this case study it is going to explore changing shift patterns in the medicalization of childbirth. This blog is going to focus on the term what is ‘’normal birth’’ that has been used many years to indicate uncomplicated vaginal birth. The aim of this blog is to identify to what extent childbirth is medicalised. . In addition, this will be evident by research and findings of theories that were put into place. Furthermore, within this blog it will acknowledge the sociological aspect of childbirth including, demographic facts and historical comparison of childbirth. Following with a conclusion of what is considered.

History

According to Wilson (1995) in the seventeenth century, before childbirth was emphatically under the power of women, the midwives had full control of the birth supported by other women. During that time men were not involved in as much as they are now in the 20^th century as Wilson (1995) explains that the situation occurred when men were kept out of the delivery and from subsequent month of lying. ‘’lying in chamber was dedicated to the others rest and recovery and to the collective female ritual that surrounded childbirth’’ Wilson (1995). As result of this, control of women’s voice were not ignored. In a way that is clearly understood by Wilson (1995) he stated that medical men were only informed to help when faced with critical condition.

However, medical men still criticised the work of midwives, but had no intention to replace them. On the other hand in the eighteenth century it was quite different as changes took place by way of new kind of practitioners known as ‘’man-midwife, the medical man who delivered normal births. This was also known as the new ‘’revolution in obstetrics’. 75% of the century witness the increase amount of babies were delivered by men. Wilson (1995).

This clearly showcases a dramatic shift change that the women-only tradition that had existed during the course of western history. Wilson (1995). Therefore, dominance of obstetricians had an impact in medical practice and remarkable shift in gender relations. How has this come about and why did the skills and knowledge of female control and independency became an area of male medical practice? The medical management of childbirth has been under the attack of male dominance however, this had a positive outcome as it made childbirth safer than it used to be. In return, this increased the confidence of modern feminism to challenge the male control of obstetrics. Modern feminism were eager to bring back childbirth from high technology to personal experience.

How has childbirth and pregnancy been medicalised throughout the years?

The medicalisation of childbirth is an event that began in the nineteenth Century and still proceeds with today. It is taking the ordinary characteristic event of pregnancy and labour and making it a sickness needing medical consideration. For a huge number of years ladies have conceived a baby properly with the assistance of birthing assistants, companions and relatives outside hospitals. However as of late it has turned out not out of the ordinary (98% of kids are as of now conceived in hospitals (Nhs.uk, 2017)) that ladies are to have babies in a clinic under a doctor’s eye, joined to screens, given medications and episiotomies. Ladies are called patients and are conceded into hospitals. Mortality rates have fallen for heaps of cause’s not simply moving birthing to hospitals (Kitzinger, 2007). Many of these causes are pre-birth care, sustenance, well-being and the conception of a female’s body.

Medicalisation has advantages, but then again has also generated numerous complications for pregnant women when in labour.

In hospitals a great part of the self-respect and formality was removed from labour. Females additionally can’t control their own particular wellbeing and body in hospitals. Females are hairless, and cut for explanations that have no genuine reason. For example episiotomies are frequently implemented so that a female won’t split amid labour. In studies females mend healthier and speedier with the use of no episiotomies, have less agony amid sex months afterwards, and have more solace in the couple of weeks after labour (Roberts, 2010). They are likewise concealed and arranged so that the specialist would just observe a vagina rather than the whole body. Pregnant ladies progressed toward becoming subjects to the male-controlled world that we live in, where prescription guidelines over nature. Typically ladies have conceived babies crouching or standing, because of medicalisation of labour ladies now are compelled to conceive an offspring setting down with their feet noticeable all around (Lee, Ayers and Holden, 2016). This position permits the specialist to stand or sit without putting much physical endeavours into the birth, by bowing his/her back. The position really makes experiencing work and labour significantly more troublesome than it really is. The lady should push her child in a tough form conflicting with gravity. In the hospital, ladies are typically connected to machines and screens. This is a kind of servitude for ladies. The lady’s body is working to a great degree hard and she is adhered to the bed in what could be an awkward position for her. At the point when ladies have the shot they for the most part want to walk, move, bathe and twist amid labour and birth (Lodge and Haith-Cooper, 2016).

The motive of such a large number of females today still have babies in infirmaries is on account of there is an absence of choices, the possibility that ladies won’t have the capacity to take the torment, and that our way of life does not strengthen home births. There are less midwives accessible today (David, 1982). The vast majority of people despite everything surmise that all births ought to be under a specialist’s observation. In fact midwives are a lot more trustworthy and consistent in comparison to doctors. They devote a typical fifty hours with ladies before they actually go in to labour, while doctors devote about five hours (Walsh, 2009) Midwives are about to thirty three percent of the cost of doctors (East, Lau and Biro, 2015). Doctors implement less caesareans, episiotomies, and a variety of diverse surgeries. Media portrays just the most agonizing and troublesome of labours and as a result ladies start to imagine that they won’t have the capacity to take the agony (Sharpe et al, 2015).The torment might be extraordinary, however numerous ladies today need to be sufficiently conscious and mindful to recollect their labour experience. With the capacity to sit in warm water, and change position more ladies can give birth to their babies without medications (Silver, 2015).

The medicalisation of childbirth is just a single of the numerous parts of ladies’ wellbeing that has been transformed into an ailment and something that a lady cannot regulate anymore (Wolkind and Zajicek, 1981).

There are many debates in regards to Natural Childbirth currently, some argue that the natural way should be the only way no matter what and others (Arney and Neil, 2008).

Postnatal depression:

The vast majority of the harm that obstetric care does to a lady is covered up. Ladies who have had episiotomies most of the time report that their sexual experiences have been demolished (Khajehei and Doherty 162-172). For a considerable length of time AIMS has helped ladies with postnatal misery, however it was simply after the enthusiastic utilization of enlistment and speeding up of work that we started to see an expansion in the quantities of ladies with post-traumatic anxiety issue, an intense outcome of awful birth encounters (Albanesi and Olivetti 225-269). At the point when a mother require inpatient treatment, there are awfully few professional mother-and-child psychiatric units, where mother and infant are administered to together amid treatment, and where holding is bolstered with the goal that when released they have not been isolated and are prepared for the outside world. Giving balanced maternity care mind situated in the nearby group would make a noteworthy change in ladies’ psychological well-being and the strength of their children. The frequency of both misery and PTSD will shift between doctor’s facilities, however is probably going to be less with ceaseless maternity care mind, maternity care units, and home births (“Supplemental Material For Maternal Postnatal Depression And Anxiety And Their Association With Child Emotional Negativity And Behavior Problems At Two Years”)

 

Theories

Social constructionism- however, Rothman (1977) states in his findings that the sociologist’s perspective on birth differs from the medical view. The knowledge of medicalisation in relation to childbirth is socially based by the society therefore is socially constructed. This is caused by the preparation of childbirth is suggested as delivering methods of dealing with the institution rather than the women experiencing the natural birth. (Rothman, 1977). His findings reports on the interpretations that people perceive of what is happening. People live accordingly to what their senses tell them to do for instance, what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell. As a result, individuals interpret what the senses absorb. Pregnancy is now determined by how it is dated around their menstrual time which show that it is socially constructed. When a women is on their period they consider this is a non-pregnant state however, if the individual is pregnant two weeks after that. Midwives would date it from the very first day of her last menstrual period, which she believed she wasn’t conceiving, becomes retro-actively the first date of pregnancy (Rothman, 1977). In addition, the ideology of technology is dominant as obstetrics is part of patriarchal institution and their power had an influence on the way the society began to socially construct the medicalisation of childbirth (Stanworth, 1989).

Foucault’s (1976) concept of power and knowledge was used by a report issued by the ‘’The Royal College of Midwives”. The paper explored the development of authoritative knowledge and dominant discourse was in relation with medicine. Foucault (1972) stated that the ontological truth by how it is constructed by the society understood that dominant discourses were confirmed as being the truth. Epistemology in every occupational profession will try to produce epistemology on their own which will lead to be the social norms that are controlled by the dominant discourse. Therefore, how medicine socially constructs the truth of normal and abnormal, through its power it is seen as normal for women giving birth in hospital with all the clinical intervention which prevents the connection between a mother and birth (McCourt, 2010). The theory of ‘Authoritative knowledge’ was proposed by which one form of knowledge develops legitimacy over another therefore, Oakley (1991) used this to the scientific world of medicine and obstetrics so that women have the right to choose how they want to deliver the birth of their child without the help of clinical need (Clews, 2013). Furthermore, Foucault (1976) also explained the way the hospital was designed was to pass some sort of bodily discipline and observation and as Foucault (1972) described that patriarchal power is supported by the disciplinary model of power set down by Foucault (1972) (Clews, 2013).

Feminist theory- by the growth of an ‘abnormal’ and ‘normal’ pregnancy, women are dependent on medical care for control of their body. According to a journal article issued by Beckett (2005) he analysed that the pain of natural birth is an issue that is reoccurring for feminist analyst of childbirth. As the medical intervention indeed helped the doctors and hospitals with safety, other studies show that women had spoken about the fear of pain caused by labour. Therefore, first wave feminist took this into account and addressed the importance of women having the right to pain relief which why through drugs, they gained a bit control of women’s preference to pain relief. However, women did not win to have control over birthing process along with comforts of home birth (Beckett, 2005).

Second wave feminist such as Oakley (1993) debates that pregnancy and childbirth should not be classed as an illness, as it is normal for a women to give birth seeing as though they are human begins after all (Oakley 2005). Second wave feminist also wanted to ensure women’s voices are being heard, by emphasising having the right to choose ‘natural’ birth for spiritual and emotional reasons rather than non-medicated birth (Beckett, 2005).

However, third wave activist/feminist from their bad experience with ‘birth culture’ at home have criticised giving birth with pharmacological pain relief and don’t agree with second wave feminist as Beckett (2005) discussed the use of technology during labour isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it may be empowering for women and technology could be women’s preference as they may feel safer (Beckett, 2005).

Conclusion

To conclude medicalisation of childbirth and pregnancy throughout the years, it is safe to say that medicalisation of the birth procedure is not another wonder. It is something that will continue to happen. In the first medicalisation hypothesis, medicalisation was viewed as a top-down development and started by a professional trying to broaden its control over an ever increasing number of spaces of everyday life. The second era of hypothesizing medicalisation perceives that the procedure is likewise produced by a request from people in general for medicinal arrangements (Christiaens, Nieuwenhuijze and de Vries, 2013).This likewise implies ladies do not really encounter a restorative way to deal with labour as awful or damaging (Green and Baston, 2007). As specialists in old-style practice, the maternity specialists recognized sensible and pragmatic therapeutic hypothesis from that which they felt was just scholarly and hypothetical. They were worried that unexperienced associates were persuaded to bring in therapeutic guide too early, powering the pattern towards medicinal negotiation, when this could possibly have been kept away from if all maternity specialists had a knowledge into the reasons for troubles and a more extensive collection of suitable administration techniques (Allotey, 2011).

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