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A global witch-hunt
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Wagner, Mary |
| Copyright Year | 1995 |
| Abstract | Health professionals in many countries have been investigated and accused of dangerous maternity practices as part of the global struggle for control of maternity services. In the US alone, there have been reports of legal altercations involving more than 145 out-of-hospital midwives in 36 states. In the case of midwives a common method is to accuse them of practicing medicine without a license. The circumstance of the trial affect the chances that the accused will win the case. The accused who comes before a public court with a jury has the greatest chances of winning. Harassment and many trials of midwives in California eventually led to new state legislation strengthening midwifery. Yet, there is no apparent slowing of the global witch-hunt. In the 1980s the German Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology demanded that their government abolish the law requiring the presence of midwives at all births, and in 1990 the same society wrote to their national government demanding that home births be outlawed. In 1994 there were attempts in France to forbid independent midwives from entering the hospital when a home birth patient had to be transferred. As more and more countries move towards pluralistic health care systems with private practice, maternity care becomes more competitive. In the face of increasingly limited economic resources, governments and insurance companies are becoming more concerned with the waste associated with high-technology, high-intervention obstetrics. Public awareness should be increased about this witch-hunt to reveal its political rather than medical aspect. |
| Starting Page | 1020 |
| Ending Page | 1022 |
| Page Count | 3 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1016/S0140-6736(95)91696-2 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/pii/S0140673695916962 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673695916962?dgcid=api_sd_search-api-endpoint |
| PubMed reference number | 7475554 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736%2895%2991696-2 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 346 |
| Journal | The Lancet |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
