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A ship upon a stormy sea: The medicalization of pregnancy

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  • Barker, K. K.

Abstract

This is an empirical illustration of the role of biomedical rhetoric in the rise of medicine's cultural authority. Using the case of pregnancy in the United States I delineate how biomedical rhetoric was key in the historical process of medicalization. The first systematic attempt to introduce women to a medical interpretation of pregnancy was the public health campaign of the United States Children's Bureau in the early twentieth century. A cornerstone of the Children's Bureau campaign was its publication "Prenatal Care," first published in 1913 and distributed to well over twenty-two million women by the mid-thirties. Prenatal Care represents the biomedical interpretation of pregnancy as it was first introduced to women. Through an analysis of this document I demonstrate the discursive mechanisms through which biomedicine reconceptualized pregnancy as medically problematic rather than as experientially and organically demanding. Prenatal Care demonstrates the ways in which the "universal" claims of biomedicine can advance a particular class and racial/ethnic composite of woman.

Suggested Citation

  • Barker, K. K., 1998. "A ship upon a stormy sea: The medicalization of pregnancy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1067-1076, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:47:y:1998:i:8:p:1067-1076
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    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa, Grotti & Cynthia, Malakasis & Chiara, Quagliariello & Nina, Sahraoui, 2019. "Temporalities of emergency: Migrant pregnancy and healthcare networks in Southern European borderlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 11-19.
    2. Benoit, Cecilia & Zadoroznyj, Maria & Hallgrimsdottir, Helga & Treloar, Adrienne & Taylor, Kara, 2010. "Medical dominance and neoliberalisation in maternal care provision: The evidence from Canada and Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 475-481, August.
    3. Hammer, Raphaël P. & Burton-Jeangros, Claudine, 2013. "Tensions around risks in pregnancy: A typology of women's experiences of surveillance medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 55-63.
    4. Nelson, Hyeyoung Oh, 2024. "Experiencing birth trauma: Individualism and isolation in postpartum," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    5. Wagner, Brandon G. & Cleland, Kelly & Batur, Pelin & Wu, Justine & Rothberg, Michael B., 2019. "Emergency contraception: Links between providers' counseling choices, prescribing behaviors, and sociopolitical context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    6. Charles Barthold & Hervé Corvellec, 2018. "« For the women » ‐ In Memoriam Simone Veil (1927–2017)," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 593-600, November.
    7. Brown, Eliza, 2020. "Projected diagnosis, anticipatory medicine, and uncertainty: How medical providers ‘rule out’ potential pregnancy in contraceptive counseling," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    8. Fordyce, Lauren, 2013. "Accounting for fetal death: Vital statistics and the medicalization of pregnancy in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 124-131.

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