by Graydyl

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

Until the early 1910s, childbirth was primarily controlled by the woman. However, over the course of the 20th century, reproduction became a science and pregnancy became described in terms of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. Several trends in 20th century America shaped reproduction: girls began their first menstruation at a younger age, the obesity epidemic emerged, and nutrition problems abounded, all of which are risk factors for pregnancy complications. The American medical profession responded by medicalizing aspects of human reproduction in the 20th century by introducing technology to lessen the pain of childbirth and treat pregnancy complications, shifting the location of childbirth from home to delivery room in the hospital, conducting research studies on sex, and formally establishing the physician's role in birth control and abortion.

Before the 1900s, aspects of reproduction such as fertility, contraception, abortion, infant health care, and infant mortality had very little to do with medicine. In the 1840s, the discomfort experienced by women giving birth was a normal part of the birth process. However, medicine revolutionized childbirth pain by introducing technology that induced anesthesia, such as ether and chloroform. Anesthetics became widespread procedure, but they also generated complicationsin the 1850s, physicians discovered that anesthetics slowed the birth process and risked harming the baby during delivery. Several events occurred that caused physicians to strongly urge women to give birth in the hospital in case of complications. The widespread use of estrogen in meat production and the improvements in diet for most Americans were possible causes for girls' menstrual period starting at a younger age, reaching 12.6 years old in 1970[1]. Consequently, the age of pregnant women giving birth also decreased, which made the birth process more difficult because the women were less physically developed. Pregnancy complications arose because this trend also accompanied increases in smoking, drinking, and drug abuse, and deficiencies in iron and Vitamin-D, which is important for bone production. The development of the C-section as an alternative to natural birth responded to the risk of traumatic injuries such as tears in the urethra. The emergence of the obesity epidemic in 20th century America increased rates of C-section because the larger size of mothers made natural childbirth more difficult. By 1997, 30% of all births were done by C-section

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