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A Baby Story as a Source of Information about Childbirth: The Messages and Their Implications
Unformatted Document Text:  Alicia VandeVusse ASA Submission “A Baby Story as a Source of Information about Childbirth: The Messages and Their Implications” INTRODUCTION Background and Significance Several recent manuscripts reproach the current American system of care during  childbirth for submitting birthing women to routine medical interventions that are unnecessary  and even, in some cases, harmful (Block 2007; Simonds, Rothman, and Norman 2007; Wagner  2006).  Already thirty years ago, in his seminal paper outlining the phenomenon of  medicalization, Irving Zola cited pregnancy as a concrete example of the process (1972).  Since  then, medical intervention in childbirth has only increased, with a proliferation of technological  interventions that result in a birthing woman experiencing up to 16 different “tubes, drugs, or  attachments” during labor (Block 2007: xiv).  National survey data show just how widespread  medical intervention is.  For instance, at least forty percent of births are started artificially  (Declercq et al. 2006: 29).  Four-fifths of birthing women receive IV fluids (33).  Over three- quarters are given epidural analgesia to reduce the pain of contractions, and a similar percentage  of women are connected to electronic fetal heart rate monitors throughout their labors (33).  Almost a third of all babies in America are born surgically (by cesarean section) (35).  Yet on  their own, these figures are meaningless.  After all, each of the aforementioned interventions  represents a technological advancement, a procedure developed in order to improve the labor  experience in cases where the intervention is necessary.   If medicalization were improving outcomes for women and babies, then one could argue  that the increasing rates of intervention in birth are an indication of progress and, therefore, are  justified.  However, studies have shown that, in the vast majority of cases, babies born at home  (and consequently with far fewer medical interventions) are at least as healthy as their hospital  counterparts (Johnson and Daviss 2005).     More disturbingly, the maternal mortality rate in the  1

Authors: VandeVusse, Alicia.
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background image
Alicia VandeVusse
ASA Submission
“A Baby Story as a Source of Information about Childbirth: The Messages and Their Implications”
INTRODUCTION
Background and Significance
Several recent manuscripts reproach the current American system of care during 
childbirth for submitting birthing women to routine medical interventions that are unnecessary 
and even, in some cases, harmful (Block 2007; Simonds, Rothman, and Norman 2007; Wagner 
2006).  Already thirty years ago, in his seminal paper outlining the phenomenon of 
medicalization, Irving Zola cited pregnancy as a concrete example of the process (1972).  Since 
then, medical intervention in childbirth has only increased, with a proliferation of technological 
interventions that result in a birthing woman experiencing up to 16 different “tubes, drugs, or 
attachments” during labor (Block 2007: xiv).  National survey data show just how widespread 
medical intervention is.  For instance, at least forty percent of births are started artificially 
(Declercq et al. 2006: 29).  Four-fifths of birthing women receive IV fluids (33).  Over three-
quarters are given epidural analgesia to reduce the pain of contractions, and a similar percentage 
of women are connected to electronic fetal heart rate monitors throughout their labors (33). 
Almost a third of all babies in America are born surgically (by cesarean section) (35).  Yet on 
their own, these figures are meaningless.  After all, each of the aforementioned interventions 
represents a technological advancement, a procedure developed in order to improve the labor 
experience in cases where the intervention is necessary.  
If medicalization were improving outcomes for women and babies, then one could argue 
that the increasing rates of intervention in birth are an indication of progress and, therefore, are 
justified.  However, studies have shown that, in the vast majority of cases, babies born at home 
(and consequently with far fewer medical interventions) are at least as healthy as their hospital 
counterparts (Johnson and Daviss 2005).
 
  More disturbingly, the maternal mortality rate in the 
1


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