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Contractions Or Constructions: A Content Analysis Of Birthing Facilities In Miami, Florida, Shameka Thomas

Sociology Theses

Numbers of caesarean sections, epidurals, and other forms of medical interventions for birthing are rising in the United States healthcare industry. One possible reason is the medicalization of birthing and labor techniques. Another potential reason is the increasing distinction between laboring in a hospital versus laboring in the home or an independent birthing center. The dominance of the medical model of birthing has led to social constructions of birthing that divide women by diagnosis, into either high-risk or low-risk prenatal categories, further perpetuating the medical model’s power to marginalize the midwifery model.

Forty percent of U.S. births are financed by …