Obstetricians have medicalised childbirth

Johanson and colleagues (p 892) argue that there is a growing trend of obstetric intervention in childbirth; this is associated with increasing medicolegal pressures, and women are not involved in decision making. Obstetricians have now taken over responsibility for normal births, in addition to their role in complicated births. Caesarean rates in Britain have now reached 20% and obstetricians, the authors say, must be held accountable. If this trend is to be reversed then the "blame and claim" culture should be addressed, and childbirth without fear should become a reality for women, midwives, and obstetricians alike.

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Has the medicalisation of childbirth gone too far?

Richard Johanson, Mary Newburn, and Alison Macfarlane
BMJ 2002 324: 892-895. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]