Revisiting the critique of medicalized childbirth - A contribution to the sociology of birth

Based on interviews with 40 first-time mothers, the authors develop an argu ment that supplements the critique of medicalized childbirth by focusing on the social context in which women give birth. Particularly important about that context is women's privatized responsibility for babies' well-being, and a dearth of social supports for mothering, including the sharing of tha t responsibility by fathers. Contextualizing childbirth in this way makes c learer not only why many women are favorable toward medical intervention bu t also the decisions women make during hospital births. The women we interv iewed displayed widely ranging reactions to giving birth in the hospital. D escribing their experiences, these women often emphasized pain and anxiety. Both conditions appear to have been relieved ar effectively by social supp ort as by medical assistance. Furthermore, women who had generally supporti ve partners were less likely to receive medical intervention during the bir th and less likely to suffer postpartum depression.