A ship upon a stormy sea: The medicalization of pregnancy

Barker, Kristin K.

doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00155-5

Cited by 124 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Early studies focused on the medicalization of deviance, including madness, drug and alcohol problems, and homosexual behavior (Conrad and Schneider 1992). Over the years, sociologists have shown that women's natural reproductive functions (e.g., pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation) are routinely medicalized (Barker 1998;Riessman 1983;Riska 2003). For example, Prempro, a widely prescribed hormone replacement drug, is just the latest in the ongoing effort to medically "treat" menopausal "symptoms," despite the fact that changes associated with menopause are a common and ordinary aspect of women's reproductive lives.…”

Section: Medical Knowledge As Socially Constructedmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications

Conrad¹,

2010

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The social construction of illness is a major research perspective in medical sociology. This article traces the roots of this perspective and presents three overarching constructionist findings. First, some illnesses are particularly embedded with cultural meaning-which is not directly derived from the nature of the condition-that shapes how society responds to those afflicted and influences the experience of that illness. Second, all illnesses are socially constructed at the experiential level, based on how individuals come to understand and live with their illness. Third, medical knowledge about illness and disease is not necessarily given by nature but is constructed and developed by claims-makers and interested parties. We address central policy implications of each of these findings and discuss fruitful directions for policyrelevant research in a social constructionist tradition. Social constructionism provides an important counterpoint to medicine's largely deterministic approaches to disease and illness, and it can help us broaden policy deliberations and decisions.

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Section: Medical Knowledge As Socially Constructedmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications

Conrad¹,

2010

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“…In the first three decades of the 20th century, Prenatal Care was distributed to over twenty-two million pregnant women. Barker argues convincingly that the medical rhetoric used in this and other publications played a significant role in helping to enhance medicine's cultural authority [16].…”

Section: The Power Of Medical Rhetoricmentioning

confidence: 89%

A Brief Overview of How Male Medicine Co-Opted the Midwife’s Role in the Birth Process

Vernon¹

2015

OJN

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The term medicalization has been defined as the process by which non-medical issues come to be defined and treated as medical problems. There are no better examples of this than pregnancy and childbirth. Prior to the intervention of physicians and hospitals, most females delivered unassisted or assisted by a relative or a midwife who usually had no formal education. As long as this remained the practice, pregnancy could not become a medical procedure. Through systematic changes, discussed in detail herein, this primarily female-oriented event involving family and amateur aids would come to be dominated by males who were the sole legally authorized providers of obstetrical care [1]. The increasing cultural authority of medicine facilitated the transfer of home delivery to hospital delivery and changed normal birth into a surgical procedure. This paper will examine the history of obstetrics and how a profession comes to redefine a normal life event as a disease state.

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“…10,11 Stress levels may also increase in the neonatal period due to the expansion of conventional newborn screening, with its concomitant increase in falsepositive identifications and findings of uncertain significance. [12][13][14][15] Our results suggest that parental stress and worrisome prenatal/perinatal experiences will influence parental interest in GS when it is offered.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Parental Interest in Genomic Sequencing of Newborns

et al. 2016

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BACKGROUND: When parents of newborns are presented with the hypothetical possibility of obtaining genomic sequencing (GS) for their newborn infants immediately after birth, they express substantial interest. This study examined associations between expressed interest in GS and demographic and psychosocial variables some months after birth. METHODS:A total of 1096 parents were enrolled in a study on GS of newborns shortly after the birth of their infants, before discharge from the postpartum floor. Of these parents, 663 (60.5%) completed a follow-up survey 2 to 28 months later that queried their interest in GS for their infant and whether they received worrisome health information during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. They were also administered the Parenting Stress Index. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with interest in GS of newborns. RESULTS:Of parents, 76.1% indicated at least some interest in GS. A 10-point increase on the Parenting Stress Index was associated with an increase in the odds of having some interest in GS (odds ratio: 1.15; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.32). Age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, education, anxiety, and whether this was the first biological child were not significantly associated with interest in GS. Receiving worrisome health information was associated with greater interest in GS but this did not reach significance (odds ratio: 1.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.95-2.12).CONCLUSIONS: This hypothetical survey study suggests that previous experiences leading to worrisome health information and parenting stress need to be considered when GS is offered. Additional research, currently underway, is exploring factors associated with reallife parental choices around whether to obtain GS of their newborns.

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A ship upon a stormy sea: The medicalization of pregnancy

Cited by 124 publications

References 13 publications

The Social Construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications

The Social Construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications

A Brief Overview of How Male Medicine Co-Opted the Midwife’s Role in the Birth Process

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Parental Interest in Genomic Sequencing of Newborns

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