Midwives’ professionalization: a comparative approach. An interpretation of the phenomenon of childbirth medicalization

Abstract

The paper studies the problem of increasing medicalization of pregnancy and delivery, a phenomenon that started in Italy between the 1950s and the 1960s owing to deep political, social and cultural changes. The main aim of the study is the understanding of the origins of the phenomenon by investigating the causal relationships between medicalization and medical dominance.

Keywords

• Childbirth medicalization
• Process of midwives’ professionalization