Negative Impacts of Taegyo: Feminist and Disability Perspectives.

This study examines the origin and religious roots of taegyo, Korean traditional prenatal education, and raises concerns about potential negative impacts of contemporary taegyo practice from feminist and disability perspectives. Taegyo has been accepted without much criticism due to its deep integration into prenatal care culture, and most existing literature focuses on taegyo's positive impacts on fetal health and development from scientific or nursing perspectives. This article analyzes a 19th-century taegyo manual, Taegyo Singi, and Seon and Won Buddhist literatures on taegyo in order to understand the religio-cultural concepts and contexts of taegyo. The article then discusses the potential downsides of taegyo practice today, considering its patriarchal, mother-blaming, ablest roots in Korean history and culture. The author raises concerns about social oppression, the control of women's bodily autonomy, and the disproportionate responsibility burden that taegyo places on Korean women. The article concludes with suggestions for future research and for well-balanced taegyo practice.

Changing Expectation: Prenatal Care and the Creation of Healthy Pregnancy.

In the early to mid-twentieth-century United States, prenatal care helped reshape pregnancy by extending medical directives into the everyday life of pregnant women. What began with minimal strategies for a few women at high risk grew into a "lifestyle" for all expecting babies. Maternity manuals helped popularize this process. Studying revisions of a widely circulated and publicly funded manual, Prenatal Care, from the U.S. Children's Bureau between 1913 and 1983, shows that prenatal-care standards offered women healthy pregnancies on condition that they abandon older ways of understanding pregnancy and become maternity patients. Prenatal Care taught women to take positive steps to enhance outcomes, but a woman's active role in her own pregnancy was complicated by the fact that the guides made obedience to her doctor her primary responsibility.

Red cell alloimmunization: A 2020 update.

Management of maternal red cell alloimmunization has been revolutionized over the last 60 years. Advances in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of alloimmune-induced fetal anemia make this condition an exemplar for contemporary practice in fetal therapy. Since survival is now an expectation, attention has turned to optimization of long-term outcomes following an alloimmunized pregnancy. In this review, the current management of red cell alloimmunization is described. Current research and future directions are discussed with particular emphasis on later life outcomes after alloimmune fetal anemia.

Prenatal Provider Support for Breastfeeding: Changes in Attitudes, Practices and Recommendations Over 22 Years.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal care providers play a central role in breastfeeding outcomes. A survey on obstetricians' support of breastfeeding was conducted in 1993 in Monroe County, NY. Since the landscape of prenatal care and breastfeeding support has changed significantly in the past 2 decades, we repeated and extended this survey in 2015. RESEARCH AIM: To determine changes in breastfeeding support by prenatal care providers over a 20 year period. METHODS: We sent a 46-item on-line or paper questionnaire to all categories of prenatal care providers identified by an online search. A breastfeeding support score was created based on the prior survey, with a maximum score of 3. One point was awarded for: (1) personally discussing breastfeeding; (2) generally suggesting breastfeeding; and (3) commonly receiving questions from patients. Data were analyzed using Chi-square. RESULTS: We had 164 participants (response rate 80%). More current participants, compared to 1993, reported discussing (97% vs. 86%, p < .001) and recommending (93% vs. 80%, p = .001) breastfeeding. Only 10% of 2015 participants gave infant formula samples, compared with 34% in 1993 (p < .0001). Improvement in the support score was seen, with 98% of current participants having high scores compared to 87% in 1993 (p < .001). Similar numbers reported receiving breastfeeding education, though more reported that the education was inadequate (54% vs. 19%, p < .0001). CONCLUSION: Breastfeeding support improved significantly over time, even though breastfeeding education has not improved in quality or quantity. Improving education of prenatal care providers may help future providers be more prepared to support breastfeeding.

Methods of childbirth preparation: a study of printed matter published in Brazil in the mid-twentieth century. / Métodos de preparação para o parto: um estudo sobre materiais impressos publicados no Brasil em meados do século XX.

The article explores the dissemination of natural childbirth practices through an analysis of the books Parto natural: guia para os futuros pais, written by U.S. obstetrician Frederick Goodrich Jr. in 1950, under the title Natural Childbirth: a manual for expectant parents, and first published in Brazil in 1955, and of Parto natural sem dor, written by Brazilian obstetrician Beutner in 1962. Both books found a place in Brazilian culture and influenced thinking about childbirth and delivery in the field of Brazilian obstetrics and in representations of women. Based on Roger Chartier's contributions and on concepts of medicalization, we conclude that these new practices for childbirth preparation shared the period's prevalent medical views of childbirth and delivery.

Discute-se a difusão das práticas de parto natural por meio da análise dos livros Parto natural: guia para os futuros pais, escrito pelo obstetra americano Frederick Goodrich Jr. em 1950 e publicado no Brasil a partir de 1955, e Parto natural sem dor, escrito pelo obstetra brasileiro George Beutner, em 1962. Ambos tiveram boa entrada na cultura brasileira e influenciaram a forma de pensar o parto e de parir, tanto no âmbito da obstetrícia brasileira como no que concerne às representações das mulheres. A partir das contribuições de Roger Chartier e das concepções sobre medicalização, concluímos que essas novas práticas de preparação do parto compartilhavam as visões médicas sobre o parto e o nascimento predominantes no período.

Por el bien de la nación: discursos científicos en favor de la medicalización del parto en el Perú, 1900-1940 / For the good of the nation: scientific discourses endorsing the medicalization of childbirth in Peru, 1900-1940

Resumen A lo largo del siglo XX se sucedió una serie de cambios en la forma de concebir el parto que pasó de ser un fenómeno reproductivo natural propio del ámbito doméstico y femenino a un asunto médico y profesional del ámbito institucional. A través de procedimientos como el uso de anestesia, la cesárea, el ultrasonido y otras intervenciones técnico-científicas se han generado rápidas e importantes mejoras y cambios para la salud y vida de la sociedad y las mujeres. La medicalización del parto a comienzos del siglo XX fue parte de un proceso más amplio de construcción del Estado e institucionalización del patriarcado común en la región.

Abstract Over the course of the twentieth century, a series of changes occurred in the understanding of childbirth, which went from being a natural reproductive phenomenon belonging to the female, domestic sphere to a professional medical matter handled in an institutional setting. Through procedures like the use of anesthesia, Cesarean sections, ultrasound and other techno-scientific interventions, rapid and significant improvements and changes took place in the health and life of society and of women. The medicalization of childbirth in the early twentieth century was part of a broader process of constructing the state and institutionalizing the patriarchy that was common throughout the region.

Features of randomised trials designed by the NPEU Perinatal Trials Service during Adrian Grant's directorship.

Adrian Grant pioneered methodological innovations in the randomised trials organised by the Perinatal Trials Service established at the national Perinatal Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, UK. This Commentary discusses these innovations, and shows the wide range of trials designed under his directorship.

For the good of the nation: scientific discourses endorsing the medicalization of childbirth in Peru, 1900-1940. / Por el bien de la nación: discursos científicos en favor de la medicalización del parto en el Perú, 1900-1940.

Over the course of the twentieth century, a series of changes occurred in the understanding of childbirth, which went from being a natural reproductive phenomenon belonging to the female, domestic sphere to a professional medical matter handled in an institutional setting. Through procedures like the use of anesthesia, Cesarean sections, ultrasound and other techno-scientific interventions, rapid and significant improvements and changes took place in the health and life of society and of women. The medicalization of childbirth in the early twentieth century was part of a broader process of constructing the state and institutionalizing the patriarchy that was common throughout the region.

A lo largo del siglo XX se sucedió una serie de cambios en la forma de concebir el parto que pasó de ser un fenómeno reproductivo natural propio del ámbito doméstico y femenino a un asunto médico y profesional del ámbito institucional. A través de procedimientos como el uso de anestesia, la cesárea, el ultrasonido y otras intervenciones técnico-científicas se han generado rápidas e importantes mejoras y cambios para la salud y vida de la sociedad y las mujeres. La medicalización del parto a comienzos del siglo XX fue parte de un proceso más amplio de construcción del Estado e institucionalización del patriarcado común en la región.

The History of Cesarean Birth From 1900 to 2016.

Nurses struggle with conflicting priorities regarding the care of women during childbirth and the expectations of physicians and employers. Nurses are expected to perform technologically sophisticated interventions that were once performed by physicians, which can affect the perception of comfort that nurses traditionally offered. In this historical overview, I suggest that scientific childbirth advances have contributed to soaring cesarean rates and identify the role of the nurse as a contributor to this trend.

Fifty years of obstetrics and gynaecology.

The term 'obstetrics and gynaecology' now feels like an outmoded name for women's health care. Since the 1960s the specialty has been transformed by social change, technical innovation and medical subspecialization, although the core values of good clinical practice remain unchanged.

The association of ethnic minority density with late entry into antenatal care in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, non-Western ethnic minority women make their first antenatal visit later than native Dutch women. Timely entry into antenatal care is important as it provides the opportunity for prenatal screening and the detection of risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. In this study we explored whether women's timely entry is influenced by their neighborhood. Moreover, we assessed whether ethnic minority density (the proportion of ethnic minorities in a neighborhood) influences Western and non-Western ethnic minority women's chances of timely entry into care differently. We hypothesized that ethnic minority density has a protective effect against non-Western women's late entry into care. Data on time of entry into care and other individual-level characteristics were obtained from the Netherlands Perinatal Registry (2000-2008; 97% of all pregnancies). We derived neighborhood-level data from three other national databases. We included 1,137,741 pregnancies of women who started care under supervision of a community midwife in 3422 neighborhoods. Multi-level logistic regression was used to assess the associations of individual and neighborhood-level determinants with entry into antenatal care before and after 14 weeks of gestation. We found that neighborhood characteristics influence timely entry above and beyond individual characteristics. Ethnic minority density was associated with a higher risk of late entry into antenatal care. However, our analysis showed that for non-Western women, living in high ethnic minority density areas is less detrimental to their risk of late entry than for Western women. This means that a higher proportion of ethnic minority residents has a protective effect on non-Western women's chances of timely entry into care. Our results suggest that strategies to improve timely entry into care could seek to create change at the neighborhood level in order to target individuals likely of entering care too late.

Highly improved perinatal states in Japan.

To report on improved perinatal states in Japan, governmental and United Nations Children's Fund reports were analyzed. Initial maternal mortality, which was 409.8 in 1899, decreased to 4.1 in 2010, with a reduction rate of 409.8/4.1 (102.4) in 111 years: 2.5 in the initial 50 years in home delivery and 39.3 in the later 60 years in hospital births. The difference between 2.5 versus 39.3 was attributed to the medicine and medical care provided in hospital births. The total reduction of neonatal mortality was 77.9/1.1 (70.8), and the rate in the initial 50 versus later 60 years was 2.8/25. Also, there was a big difference after introduction of extensive neonatal care. Virtual perinatal mortality after 22 weeks was estimated to be 428 in 1000 births in 1900 (i.e. those infants born at 22-28 weeks were unlikely to survive at that time), while the perinatal mortality was reported to be 22 weeks or more in 1979 (i.e. premature babies born at ≥22 weeks survived in 1979 because of the improved neonatal care). Actually, 60% of premature infants of 400-500 g survived in the neonatal intensive care unit. In a recent report, 36% of infants born at 22 weeks survived to 3 years. Although there were neurodevelopmental impairments, outcomes were improved. In conclusion, perinatal states have remarkably improved in Japan.