Holistic obstetrics: the origins of “natural childbirth” in Britain

Abstract

The term “natural childbirth” denotes an approach to childbirth characterised by a bias towards physical and mental hygiene in the management of pregnancy and labour. It emerged in Britain in the interwar period, partly as a response to the growing interventionism of mainstream obstetrics. Its appeal since then has rested on the belief that it could provide a holistic approach to maternity care, capable of addressing the needs of the “whole” patient. At the same time, “natural childbirth” has provided a means of expressing anxieties about the social, economic and political upheavals of the 20th century. This paper explores this complex set of beliefs and practices by examining the ideas of some British pioneers.

Patient-Centred Care in Maternity Services

“…One of the most commonly used models within maternity service policies is WCC and is viewed as the cornerstone of the partnership between the midwife and the woman [24][25][26][27]. The women-centred philosophy of care emerged after a set of modernising reforms of the NHS and focus on the individualised needs and with the expectation that healthcare professionals would work in collaboration with the women to meet their needs [28].…”

The Sociology of Generations

“…(Whiteside 2012 , p. 119) Because eugenic ideology cast biological reproduction as both the cause and the solution to social problems, women in particular became the focus of these ideas. For example, debates about the need to manage the pain of childbirth, either through the provision of obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia or through the promotion of 'natural birth' techniques that encouraged women to experience the pain of birth as a spiritually transcendental experience, often emphasised the need to counter falling birth rates among middle-class women so as to improve the moral and physical health of the new generation (Moscucci 2003 ).…”

Primórdios da analgesia de parto: a força das mulheres

“…Este último resultou do movimento de reforma da saúde que postulava o regresso a um modo de vida mais natural como reparador da medicina materialista, argumentado que a vida saudável da mulher era a chave para um parto seguro. 22 Eugène Marais, naturalista sulafricano, afirmava que a dor é o estímulo do instinto maternal e, estando ausente, não existiria amor de mãe. Sustentava esta afirmação com experiências em ovelhas: o parto sob anestesia levava à recusa do animal em aceitar o filho, não acontecendo o mesmo no parto natural.…”