RESUMO
This article analyzes the speeches of leading doctors in the creation of the specialty in childbirth care: gynecotology. Between 1920 and 1940, under the influence of eugenic and maternalist thinking, in a context of valuing the well-being of children, medicine built a new obstetric interventionism under the foundation of improving fetal viability. The supposed female "maternal instinct" was, thus, appealed to improve acceptance of the medical mandate. At the same time, doctors recognized their difficulties in providing adequate care. They did not wait long enough and tended to intervene in unnecessary physiological processes.
En este artículo se analizan discursos de médicos de referencia en la creación de la especialidad en la atención del parto: la ginecotocología. Entre 1920 y 1940, bajo la influencia del pensamiento eugenésico y maternalista, en un contexto de valorización del bienestar de la infancia, la medicina construyó un nuevo intervencionismo obstétrico bajo el fundamento de mejorar la viabilidad fetal. En ese marco se apeló al supuesto "instinto maternal" femenino para mejorar la aceptación del mandato médico. A la vez, los médicos reconocieron sus dificultades para asistir de forma adecuada. No esperaban el tiempo suficiente y tendían a intervenir más de lo necesario en procesos fisiológicos que no lo requerían.
Assuntos
Obstetrícia , História do Século XX , Humanos , Feminino , Uruguai , Gravidez , Obstetrícia/história , Eugenia (Ciência)/história , Parto , Parto Obstétrico/históriaRESUMO
This article traces the historical processes by which Brazil became a world leader in cesarean sections. It demonstrates that physicians changed their position toward and use of different obstetric surgeries, in particular embryotomies and cesarean sections, over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The authors demonstrate that Catholic obstetricians, building upon both advancements in cesarean section techniques and new civil legislation that gave some personhood to fetuses, began arguing that fetal life was on par with its maternal counterpart in the early twentieth century, a shift that had a lasting impact on obstetric practice for decades to come. In the second half of the twentieth century, cesarean sections proliferated in clinical practice, but abortions remained illegal. Most importantly, women remained patients to be worked on rather than active participants in their reproductive lives.
Assuntos
Aborto Induzido/história , Cesárea/história , Obstetrícia/história , Aborto Induzido/tendências , Brasil , Catolicismo , Cesárea/estatística & dados numéricos , Cesárea/tendências , História do Século XIX , História do Século XX , HumanosRESUMO
This article examines female sterilisation practices in early twentieth-century Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It argues that the medical profession, particularly obstetricians and psychiatrists, used debates over the issue to solidify its moral and political standing during two political moments of Brazilian history: when the Brazilian government separated church and state in the 1890s and when Getúlio Vargas's authoritarian regime of the late 1930s renewed alliances with the Catholic church. Shifting notions of gender, race, and heredity further shaped these debates. In the late nineteenth century, a unified medical profession believed that female sterilisation caused psychiatric degeneration in women. By the 1930s, however, the arrival of eugenics caused a divergence amongst physicians. Psychiatrists began supporting eugenic sterilisation to prevent degeneration - both psychiatric and racial. Obstetricians, while arguing that sterilisation no longer caused mental disturbances in women, rejected it as a eugenic practice in regard to race. For obstetricians, the separation of sex from motherhood was more dangerous than any racial 'impurities', both phenotypical and psychiatric. At the same time, a revitalised Brazilian Catholic church rejected eugenics and sterilisation point blank, and its renewed ties with the Vargas regime blocked the medical implementation of any eugenic sterilisation laws. Brazilian women, nonetheless, continued to access the procedure, regardless of the surrounding legal and medical proscriptions.
Assuntos
Catolicismo/história , Eugenia (Ciência)/história , Obstetrícia/história , Médicos/história , Religião e Medicina , Esterilização Reprodutiva/história , Brasil , Eugenia (Ciência)/legislação & jurisprudência , Feminino , Identidade de Gênero , História do Século XIX , História do Século XX , Humanos , Transtornos Mentais/etiologia , Transtornos Mentais/história , Papel do Médico/história , Médicos/ética , Sistemas Políticos/história , Psiquiatria/história , Caracteres Sexuais , Esterilização Reprodutiva/ética , Esterilização Reprodutiva/legislação & jurisprudência , Esterilização Reprodutiva/psicologiaAssuntos
Equilíbrio Ácido-Base , Monitorização Fetal/métodos , Trabalho de Parto , Obstetrícia/história , Couro Cabeludo/irrigação sanguínea , Acidose/diagnóstico , Coleta de Amostras Sanguíneas , Feminino , Doenças Fetais/diagnóstico , Feto/metabolismo , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Humanos , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , Hipóxia/diagnóstico , Ácido Láctico/análise , GravidezRESUMO
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.
Assuntos
Parto Obstétrico/história , Parto Normal/história , Cuidado Pré-Natal/história , Brasil , Feminino , História do Século XX , Humanos , Medicalização/história , Obstetrícia/história , Parto , Gravidez , Obras Médicas de ReferênciaRESUMO
The aim of this paper is to evaluate some aspects of the life of William Hunter (1718-1783), and to argue that he deserves a better place in history as he was one of the most outstanding figures in British medicine of the 18th century. A Scotsman, Presbyterian, from a family without means or connections, he underwent a classic education at the University of Glasgow, completed with apprenticeships with William Cullen and Alexander Monro first in Scotland, and then in London, with William Smellie, James Douglas and James Wilkie, in anatomy, obstetrics and surgery, respectively. Despite initial disadvantages, he was highly successful as an anatomist, educator, surgeon, man-midwife, artist, gentleman and collector. He moved and had influences in the highest medical, cultural and social circles of his time, was named Physician Extraordinary to Queen Charlotte, and was a member of many scientific, medical and cultural societies in Great Britain and in France, such as the Royal Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the Societé Royale de Médicine of Paris. His museum was notable in its magnitude and its diversity, including anatomical preparations, coins, shells, plants, birds, insects, fossils, and minerals. He donated his great museum to the University of Glasgow. His figure has been relegated mainly due to the absence of heirs, individuals or institutional, that could have cared for, maintained, and increased his legacy as happened with his brother John.
Assuntos
Anatomia/história , Obstetrícia/história , Educação Médica/história , História do Século XVIII , Medicina nas Artes/história , Reino UnidoRESUMO
Resumo 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.
Abstract 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.
Assuntos
Humanos , Feminino , Gravidez , História do Século XX , Cuidado Pré-Natal , Parto Obstétrico/história , Parto Normal/história , Obras Médicas de Referência , Brasil , Parto , Medicalização/história , Obstetrícia/históriaRESUMO
Cuba's maternity homes were founded in 1962 as part of the gen-eral movement to extend health services to the whole population in the context of the post-1959 social transformations. The over-arching goal of the homes was to improve the health of pregnant women, mothers and newborns. Hence, in the beginning when there were few hospitals in Cuba's rural areas, their initial pur-pose was to increase institutional births by providing pregnant women a homelike environment closer to hospitals. There, they lived during the final weeks before delivery, where they received medical care, room and board free of charge. Over time, and with expanded access to community and hospital health facilities across Cuba, the numbers, activities, modalities and criteria for admission also changed. In particular, in addition to geographi-cal considerations, expectant mothers with defined risk factors were prioritized. For example, during the 1990s economic crisis, the maternity homes' role in healthy nutrition became paramount. The purpose of this essay is to provide a historical perspective of this process, describe the changes and results during the 55 years examined, and take a critical look at the challenges to suc-cessful implementation of this model, a mainstay at the primary healthcare level of the public health system's Maternal-Child Health Program. KEYWORDS Maternal health, maternal-child health, obstetrics, pregnancy, Cuba.
Assuntos
Habitação , Serviços de Saúde Materna/história , Serviços de Saúde Materna/tendências , Cuba/epidemiologia , Feminino , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Habitação/história , Humanos , Lactente , Mortalidade Infantil/história , Mortalidade Materna/história , Obstetrícia/história , GravidezRESUMO
The aim of this paper is to evaluate some aspects of the life of William Hunter (1718-1783), and to argue that he deserves a better place in history as he was one of the most outstanding figures in British medicine of the 18th century. A Scotsman, Presbyterian, from a family without means or connections, he underwent a classic education at the University of Glasgow, completed with apprenticeships with William Cullen and Alexander Monro first in Scotland, and then in London, with William Smellie, James Douglas and James Wilkie, in anatomy, obstetrics and surgery, respectively. Despite initial disadvantages, he was highly successful as an anatomist, educator, surgeon, man-midwife, artist, gentleman and collector. He moved and had influences in the highest medical, cultural and social circles of his time, was named Physician Extraordinary to Queen Charlotte, and was a member of many scientific, medical and cultural societies in Great Britain and in France, such as the Royal Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the Societé Royale de Médicine of Paris. His museum was notable in its magnitude and its diversity, including anatomical preparations, coins, shells, plants, birds, insects, fossils, and minerals. He donated his great museum to the University of Glasgow. His figure has been relegated mainly due to the absence of heirs, individuals or institutional, that could have cared for, maintained, and increased his legacy as happened with his brother John.
Assuntos
História do Século XVIII , Anatomia/história , Obstetrícia/história , Educação Médica/história , Reino Unido , Medicina nas Artes/históriaRESUMO
Resumo O artigo reflete sobre o processo de medicalização do parto, tendo como foco específico o desenvolvimento da ocitocina sintética em 1953. Investiga a vida social da ocitocina, isto é, sua sintetização, estabilização e uso em obstetrícia para acelerar o trabalho de parto. Por meio do levantamento em dois periódicos brasileiros de obstetrícia da época, é analisado o início do uso da ocitocina sintética no Brasil, a partir do final da década de 1950, e os argumentos dos obstetras acerca da recomendação ou não desse uso. É observada, nesse período, a centralidade cada vez maior do obstetra no parto, bem como a recomendação do uso encadeado de diferentes intervenções - com destaque para a ocitocina - visando menor tempo de trabalho de parto.
Abstract This article reflects on the medicalization of childbirth, focusing on the development of synthetic oxytocin in 1953. Specifically addressed is the social life of oxytocin; in other words, its synthesis, stabilization, and use in obstetrics to hasten labor. Two Brazilian obstetrics journals of this era were surveyed to analyze the early use of synthetic oxytocin in Brazil in the late 1950s, along with obstetric arguments for or against its use. Notable in this period is the increasingly central role of the obstetrician in childbirth, as well as the recommendation to use different interventions linked together (particularly oxytocin) to shorten labor.