Date of Award
2002
Degree Name
Sociology
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Kenneth Ambrose
Second Advisor
Richard Garnett
Third Advisor
Julia Fox
Abstract
This study focuses on childbirth in the United States as a medical event, specifically concentrating on the historical development of medicalized birth and the cultural and social ramifications of this transformation. The main objective is to apply various aspects of social movement theory and movement dynamics to the rise of obstetric medicine as it is documented in the existing body of childbirth literature, in order to achieve a greater understanding of the appropriation of American childbirth practices by the medical profession. Also included is a discussion of various birth reform movements that have attempted, and are attempting, to challenge the medical monopoly of childbirth in the United States.
Subject(s)
Childbirth - United States.
Obstetrics.
Recommended Citation
Henson, Martelia L., "Medicalized Childbirth in the United States: Origins, Outcomes, and Opposition" (2002). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 637.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/637
