Rising rates of intervention in childbirth

Abstract

This article presents the findings of research which investigated what is shaping the understanding of the public and also the practice of health professionals in relation to rising rates of intervention in childbirth. This research was carried out in response to the increasing rates of intervention in childbirth in Aotearoa, New Zealand using critical hermeneutics methodology. The particular approach used was critical interpretation as formulated by Hans Kogler. The findings revealed that the everyday world and its associated processes of socialization in the 21st century—in particular pain, choice, and technology—shapes the practice of health professionals and the understanding of the public in relation to increasing intervention. These findings are supported by the revelation that many of the social and cultural values that underpin Western society in the 21st century, such as convenience, ease, and control, correlate with intervention being increasingly sought after and used. This milieu of intervention, which increasingly surrounds childbirth, calls into question those things that have traditionally been at the heart of childbirth: the ability of the woman to birth and the clinical skills of the health professional. The research presented in this article provides insight into those things that are creating a milieu in which intervention is increasingly normalized.

Attitudes and Preferences of Young Women With Low and High Fear of Childbirth

“…Close to 70% of college students from Quebec supported this view when they agreed that it is a woman’s right to choose a CS for herself even if there is no medical reason for it (Saroli-Palumbo, Hsu, Tomkinson, & Klein, 2012). This was also a major theme in McAra Couper et al’s study (2010). These findings suggest that the next generation of childbearing women is interpreting birth from a women’s rights perspective, and value autonomy when making decisions about labor and birth.…”

“…Young women in both the high and low fear groups expressed concerns about the pain of childbirth. McAra Couper, Jones, and Smythe (2010) found a similar focus on pain when interviewing maternity care providers and the public about what shaped their understanding of interventions in childbirth. They concluded that individuals constructed pain as something to be avoided and linked avoidance of pain to valuing technology and control in childbirth.…”

Why are young Canadians afraid of birth? A survey study of childbirth fear and birth preferences among Canadian University students

“…Women most commonly fear labour pain and harm to the baby (Geissbuehler andEberhard, 2002, Melender, 2002;Saisto and Halmesmaki, 2003;Maier, 2010;McAra Couper et al, 2010); they view their fears as mitigated by obstetric interventions, such as epidural anaesthesia for relief of labour pain and planned CS to avoid labour pain (Stoll & Hall, in press-a). Most studies of childbirth fear have focused on pregnant women and their partners, with little attention paid to fear of birth and preferences for obstetric interventions among the next generation of maternity care consumers (Saroli-Palumbo et al, 2012;Stoll and Hall, in press-a, in press-b).…”

A Case Study of Maternal Response to the Implied Antepartum Diagnosis of Inevitable Labor Dystocia

“…According to the National Vital Statistic Reports the repeat cesarean delivery rate was nearly 90% in 2003 (Menacker, 2005). Today surgical delivery is viewed by many health care professionals and consumers as a desirable option (Hewer, Boschma, & Hall, 2009;McAra-Couper, Jones, & Smythe, 2010).…”