Caesarean section in the absence of need: a pathologising paradox for public health?

Douché, Jeanie; Carryer, Jenny

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1800.2011.00533.x

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…‘Normal’ parturition then may be perceived as what is commonly experienced, not the full range encountered globally or in the past. Douché and Carryer (2011) similarly describe a ‘pathologizing paradox’ in which normal bodily performance has emerged as abnormal and cesarean section has surfaced as normal. High rates of induction and the upwards of 20% of these labors that ‘fail’ contribute to cesarean section (Talaulikar & Arulkumaran, 2011), contrary to WHO guidance (2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misrecognition of need: Women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery

Tully

Ball

2013

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

International rates of operative delivery are consistently higher than the World Health Organization determined is appropriate. This suggests that factors other than clinical indications contribute to cesarean section. Data presented here are from interviews with 115 mothers on the postnatal ward of a hospital in Northeast England during February 2006 to March 2009 after the women underwent either unscheduled or scheduled cesarean childbirth. Using thematic content analysis, we found women’s accounts of their experiences largely portrayed cesarean section as everything that they had wanted to avoid, but necessary given their situations. Contrary to popular suggestion, the data did not indicate impersonalized medical practice, or that cesareans were being performed ‘on request.’ The categorization of cesareans into ‘emergency’ and ‘elective’ did not reflect maternal experiences. Rather, many unscheduled cesareans were conducted without indications of fetal distress and most scheduled cesareans were not booked because of ‘choice.’ The authoritative knowledge that influenced maternal perceptions of the need to undergo operative delivery included moving forward from ‘prolonged’ labor and scheduling cesarean as a prophylactic to avoid anticipated psychological or physical harm. In spontaneously defending themselves against stigma from the ‘too posh to push’ label that is currently common in the media, women portrayed debate on the appropriateness of cesarean childbirth as a social critique instead of a health issue. The findings suggest the ‘need’ for some cesareans is due to misrecognition of indications by all involved. The factors underlying many cesareans may actually be modifiable, but informed choice and healthful outcomes are impeded by lack of awareness regarding the benefits of labor on the fetal transition to extrauterine life, the maternal desire for predictability in their parturition and recovery experiences, and possibly lack of sufficient experience for providers in a variety of vaginal delivery scenarios (non-progressive labor, breech presentation, and/or after previous cesarean).

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misrecognition of need: Women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery

Tully

Ball

2013

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Representations of birth in women's magazines have a demonstrated bias toward portraying childbirth as negative and medicalized in many countries, including Australia (Handfield and Bell 1996;Sha and Kirkman 2009;Williams and Fahy 2004), New Zealand (Douché andCarryer 2011), andBrazil (Torloni et al 2011). Women's magazines are popular in most developed countries (The Association of Magazine Media 2011; Turner, Bonner, and Marshall 2000), and their accessibility and popularity is likely to increase with the development of online magazine formats that can be accessed on handheld tablets (Reid 2012).…”

Section: Media Influence On Attitudes and Intentionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Keeping it Natural: Does Persuasive Magazine Content Have an Effect on Young Women’s Intentions for Birth?

Young

Miller

2015

Women & Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Information in the popular media tends to be biased toward promoting the benefits of medicalized birth for low-risk pregnancies. We aimed to assess the effect of communicating the benefits of non-medicalized birth in magazine articles on women's birth intentions and to identify the mechanisms by which social communication messages affected women's intentions for birth. A convenience sample of 180 nulliparous Australian women aged 18-35 years were randomly exposed to a magazine article endorsing non-medicalized birth (using either celebrity or non-celebrity endorsement) or organic eating (control) throughout June-July 2011. Magazine articles that endorsed non-medicalized birth targeted perceived risk of birth, expectations for labor and birth, and attitudes toward birth. These variables and intention for birth were assessed by self-report before and after exposure. Exposure to a magazine article that endorsed non-medicalized birth significantly reduced women's intentions for a medicalized birth, regardless of whether the endorsement was by celebrities or non-celebrities. Changes in perceived risk of birth mediated the effect of magazine article exposure on women's intentions for a medicalized birth. Persuasive communication that endorses non-medicalized birth could be delivered at the population level and may reduce women's intentions for a medicalized birth.

show abstract

“…In order to understand more about determinants for the increased CS rate in Vietnam, a qualitative exploration is necessary as a first step for planning a large-sized quantitative survey in the near future. Specifically, the birth culture of Vietnam, including the perception of the mode of delivery among women [15,16] and a woman's autonomy [17,18] may be different from other countries. In China and Taiwan, CS has been regarded as a safe option among some of the Chinese mothers, who also use traditional Chinese astrology to decide whether CS; this could be one of the reasons for the rise of the CS rate [10,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reasons for Increased Caesarean Section Rate in Vietnam: A Qualitative Study among Vietnamese Mothers and Health Care Professionals

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Caesarean section rate in urban Vietnam is 43% in 2014, which is more than twice the recommended rate (10%–15%) by the World Health Organization. This qualitative study aims to identify the perceptions of pregnant mothers and health care professionals on the medical and social factors related to the increased Caesarean section rate in Vietnam. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted among pregnant mothers and healthcare professionals at two public hospitals in Nha Trang city. A content analysis was adopted in order to identify social and medical factors. As a result, 29 pregnant women and 19 health care professionals were invited to participate in the qualitative interviews. Private interviews were conducted with 10 women who wished to have a Caesarean section, and the others participated in focus group interviews. The main themes of the social factors were ‘request for Caesarean section,’ ‘mental strain of obstetricians,’ and ‘decision-making process.’ To conclude, this qualitative study suggests that there were unnecessary caesarean sections without a clear medical indication, which were requested by women and family members. Psychological fear occurred among women and family, and doctors were the main determinants for driving the requests for Caesarean section, which implies that education and emotional encouragement is necessary by midwives. In addition, a multi-faced approach including a mandatory reporting system in clinical fields and involving family members in antenatal education is important.

show abstract

Caesarean section in the absence of need: a pathologising paradox for public health?

Cited by 12 publications

References 44 publications

Misrecognition of need: Women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery

Misrecognition of need: Women's experiences of and explanations for undergoing cesarean delivery

Keeping it Natural: Does Persuasive Magazine Content Have an Effect on Young Women’s Intentions for Birth?

Reasons for Increased Caesarean Section Rate in Vietnam: A Qualitative Study among Vietnamese Mothers and Health Care Professionals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About