Giving Birth in the United States
Summary:
There are many opinions and debates over obstetrics in the United States today. Join host Jackie Wolfe and guest Barbara Katz Rothman as they talk about obstetric practice in the United States.
Host:
Jackie Wolf is Associate Professor of the History of Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine at Ohio University.
Guest:
Barbara Katz Rothman is a CUNY professor of sociology who has written numerous books about parenting and obstetrics including In Labor: Women and Power in the Birthplace and The Tentative Pregnancy: How Amniocentesis Changes the Experience of Motherhood.
Interesting Facts from the Show:
Home Birth History- Until 1900, virtually all births took place at home in the U.S. Only extremely poor or indigent women gave birth in hospitals.
- By 1940, 55% of America's births took place in hospitals.
- By 1950, 88% of births occurred in hospitals.
- By 1960, outside of a few isolated rural areas, 100% of births occurred in hospitals in the U.S.
- Over 90% of those living today were born at home.
There are two fundamentally different models of birth. The medical model reflects the technological orientation of modern industrial society. The midwifery model views birth as naturalistic and holistic.
In the 1950s and 60s it was common for women to be unconscious during birth and to take diet pills to keep their weight down during pregnancy; today we recognize both these practices as very dangerous.
Hospitals have never been systematically proven to be the safest place to give birth. In fact, the few studies that have been done show that it is safer for women to give birth at home.
Producer:
Blis Hanousek DeVault
Related Links:
Ohio University Scripps College of Communications
http://www.scrippscollege.ohio.edu/
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
