Has the medicalisation of childbirth gone too far?
This article is along the same lines, with a focus on OB/GYN. I have many, many issues with the practice of this field as it is done today. I usually tell people that emergency medicine here in the US saves lives everyday and is based on clinic research. OB/GYN is at the opposite end of that scale. The widespread use of biopsy for abnormal paps when high dose folic acid may do; the lithotomy birth position being the one always used by not the position with the largest pelvic inlet; the episiotmy nightmares when the perineum would typically have remained intact; the reassurance that many drugs that are okay during pregnancy right up to the epidural (which is almost standard operating procedure) which are said not to have an effect on the fetus… The list is practically endless. But just in case you think I’m just a dumb chiropractor…check the medical literature yourself…
bmj.com Johanson et al. 324 (7342): 892 –