Category: Uncategorized

“Exercising Caution: The Production of Medical Knowledge about Physical Exertion during Pregnancy” – Shannon Jette

The article by Shannon Jette, discussed the debate of whether women should exercise while they are pregnant. This debate is complex as to if women should exercise, but also, what type of exercise is best, if they did decide to exercise. As doctors became more involved in pregnancy and childbirth, there was more supervision as to what women did, and the impact and risk it was having on their growing babies. This represents the shift of medicalization, as doctors are more involved and have more say over how women handle themselves during their pregnancy. This article adds to the historiography of this topic because it is a concern of today. It does not pose as big of a threat but it is still something that requires women to be in constant talk with their doctors about. In the article, a piece of advice was given and it was, “listen to your body.”[1] It was said to be the most common advice given to pregnant women. Having doctors more involved, especially during this activity of pregnancy, ensures that the growing baby stays health, through testing, and due to the research done on blood and oxygen in the body, especially during pregnancy. It was also discussed as to how exercising during pregnancy became as big as it is, the article used the example of the Jane Fonda workout video for pregnant women, which featured safe exercises that could be done. It was also suggested that the types of exercises done during pregnancy, can help prepare the body for labour, due to further research done.

 

“Gender Expectation: Natural Bodies and Births in the New Midwifery in Canada” – Margaret Macdonald

I really liked this article because it had interviews and personal experiences of women who have chosen to give birth at home with a midwife, and it also had interviews with midwives. Having these interviews allows us as readers to remain engaged and take more from the information presented. This article focused on midwives, and their position on “natural” birth. It was stated by one midwife that “the inevitability that some women will fail in the goal to birth naturally – at home, without drugs, without interventions, and without screaming in pain”[2] and that is the reason behind why most midwives do not define “natural” birth. All the midwives in this article suggest that the women in labour need to be able to make their own choices when it comes to their childbirth. They use this as an argument to support giving birth at home, as the medicalization and higher levels of supervision by doctors, can present less choices to women in labour. This article adds to the historiography of this topic, as it follows the trend of child birth and the evolution of midwives. Which I can use to discuss in my paper, as it also allows me to compare the arguments, as to whether or not women should give birth in hospitals or at home.

 

““An illness of Nine Months’ Duration”: Pregnancy and Thalidomide Use in Canada and the United States” – Barbara Clow

This article was very informational in terms of the drug Thalidomide, among others. Thalidomide was a drug prescribed to women who struggled with morning sickness, as well as to help with sleeping. It was later determined it caused deformation of limbs in fetuses, and it was no longer prescribed. This article also discussed the effects of other drugs on fetuses and the unknown negative impacts. I’m planning on using this article in my paper as there is mention of alcohol during pregnancy and the different opinions on its impact on the fetus. This article discusses how pregnancy was seen as an illness and what doctors with that perspective were likely to do about it. It was stated “Doctors who endorsed this view of gestation, whether practising in Canada or the United States, tended to prescribe tranquilizers on the grounds that many of the common “complaints” of pregnancy could be attributed to psychological disturbance.”[3] At this point in time, there was little research done on the impact of drugs given to the mother, on the fetus. As history shows, and as research was done, there was more understanding and evidence of the harmful effects on the fetus. This article does a good job in terms of following the history of this topic, and it used an example of a women, who was prescribed Thalidomide, and what the outcome, and lack of knowledge was of the impacts. Tobacco was touched on in this article too, as there was no evidence at the time that it would cause harm to the baby. With a lack of knowledge, doctors had concerned such as, “intercourse in the final weeks of pregnancy than about smoking, alcohol consumption, or the use of prescription drugs.”[4] These types of concerns were simply a lack of information and as time went on, concerns altered.

 

“The Political “Nature” of Pregnancy and Childbirth” – Candace Johnson

This article is one I plan on using in my research paper and it fits perfectly with the topic of this week as it contains little bits of everything discussed in this week’s readings. It spends a good portion of the article discussing the debate of what is considered “natural” birth. The debate of free birth and natural birth is also mentioned in the article by Margret Macdonald, as the experiences of the midwives and mothers that are mentioned in that article. This article also discussed the medicalization of childbirth and pregnancy and how doctors supervised their patient’s closer. It was stated “During pregnancy this surveillance effort is increased, as medical doctors and nurses conduct tests to ensure that mothers are complying with best medical practices and fetuses are developing normally.”[5] The supervision of doctors influenced more research to be done, which included debated such as the exercise pregnant women should or should not do while they are pregnant, as discussed in Shannon Jette. This article is beneficial to my research paper because it discusses childbirth in many settings and the different outcomes, and impacts. This article also discusses the limitation that effected certain races, and the limited access to midwife services. The historical significance of this article relates to the knowledge and research conducted on childbirth and pregnancy and how the new information discovered allows for better care and more choices for expectant women.

 

Bibliography

Clow, Barbara, “‘An Illness of Nine Months’ Duration’: Pregnancy and Thalidomide Use in Canada and the United States,” in Feldberg, Ladd-Taylor, Li and McPherson, Women, Health, and Nation, Montreal” McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003: 45-66.

Jette, Shannon, “Exercising Caution: The Production of Medical Knowledge about Physical Exertion during Pregnancy”, Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 28, 2 (2011): 293     313.

Johnson, Candace, “The Political “Nature” of Pregnancy and Childbirth”, Canadian Political Science Association and the Societe Quebecoise de science politique, 41, 4 (Dec 2008),    pp. 889-913.

MacDonald, Margaret, “Gender Expectations: Natural Bodies and Natural Birth in the New Midwifery in Canada, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 20, 2 (2006): 235-256.

 

[1] Shannon Jette, “Exercising Caution: The Production of Medical Knowledge about Physical Exertion during Pregnancy”, Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 28, 2 (2011): 304.

[2] Margaret MacDonald, “Gender Expectations: Natural Bodies and Natural Birth in the New Midwifery in Canada, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 20, 2 (2006): 243.

[3] Barbara Clow, “‘An Illness of Nine Months’ Duration’: Pregnancy and Thalidomide Use in Canada and the United States,” in Feldberg, Ladd-Taylor, Li and McPherson, Women, Health, and Nation, Montreal” McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003: 49.

[4] Clow, “‘An Illness of Nine Months’ Duration’”, 51.

[5] Candace Johnson, “The Political “Nature” of Pregnancy and Childbirth”, Canadian Political Science Association and the Societe Quebecoise de science politique, 41, 4 (Dec 2008), pp. 894.

“Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952” – Ian Mosby

With the theme of this week being about embodying citizenship, this article by Ian Mosby wrote, really focused on the “Indian Problem”.[1] The idea that these people should not be treated like white Canadians, has been a common part of history, but there is only a certain amount of information that is taught in schools, so as we read articles like this one, we are able to learn more about this community of people. This was seen as a problem because the Aboriginal community seemed to be having more health problems, than everyone else in society. This caused distress because the Aboriginal people were already seen as an unwanted part of society. Having health become a fundamental topic in society, there was a large amount of focus placed on the health of everyone and the increase in illness in the Aboriginal community. Not only was health a major focus in the Aboriginal community, but it became a focus in the residential school. It was suggested in this article that when the schools were looked at by health investigators, the meals provided for the children, were substantially better than usually, but the investigators still found major health concerns at the schools. This article discusses certain experiments that were conducted amongst the Aboriginal community that were considered mistreatment and they played into the future polices that were created in terms of treatment of the Aboriginal Community. This article provided some additional information to the knowledge I had in this area prior to, but it had some interesting additions, such as the investigators in the residential schools and how the meals were changed to make the management look more adequate.

 

“The impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia”    – Mary Ellen Kelm

This article discussed the impact and issues that arose as the medicalization of society, became more prominent. This caused the Aboriginal community to run into some issues with their lifestyle and how they have dealt with illness in the past, with their natural remedies. Mary Ellen Kelm touched on the idea of how the Aboriginal community, has a unique way of thinking of every member of their society. It was stated “a missing person became a missing piece of the circle which could not be replaced.”[2] It was also discusses the idea that Aboriginal’s bodies were considerably strong when under attack of illness, their ability to handle diseases, with their traditional lifestyle. The state began to implement all new health regulations and began to take it more seriously, Kelm suggested that the use of a doctor became increasingly normalized which caused struggle for the Aboriginal community, as it pushed them away from their traditional lifestyle. I found this article to have interesting components, due to the idea that the Aboriginal community was confident in their lifestyle and how they pushed back for so long when it came to accommodating the new ideas of health.

 

“Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” – Maureen K. Lux

This article by Maureen K. Lux was really interesting as there was a large amount of evidence provided in terms of how the Aboriginal community was really pushed aside and they were treated unfairly in compared to the rest of society. There were certain hospitals that refused to take in patients of the Aboriginal community, and there were hospitals that separated these patients, so they would not infect anyone else. This idea was disconnected to the idea of citizenship, as this community of people was denied of equal medical attention, these people were seen as less than adequate to receive the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The Aboriginal community was denied the same medical attention as the rest of society, but then deemed ‘careless’[3] because they were sick more than everyone else. The state become very involved in deciding who and what level of care was received by these people. The idea of the state being able to decide who is granted the access to health care and to what extent was concerned health. Lux suggests that the Aboriginal community was ill more than the rest of society, and due to the lack of hospitals taking people in for treatment, illness spread through the community. Lux also suggests that not only did the illness spread in community of Aboriginals, it also spread in the hospitals as the sick Aboriginal people were contained in the same segregated section of the hospital. Tuberculosis, was discussed extensively in this article, and it was suggested that it was commonly spread between Aboriginals and it was even stated that “children admitted for other medical conditions contracted tuberculosis in the hospitals.”[4] The idea that the Aboriginal community was denied medical care to the level of everyone else, was new information to me, as I was reading it, and it was quite shocking to me. It seems to be an important part of their history that we might not learn about if we are never drawn to this area of research.

 

“Ideal Births and Ideal Babies: English-Canadian Advice Literature in the 1950s and 1960s” – Sally Mennill

This article is one I plan on using for my research paper and it was a really good article to pick for this week because it talks about embodying citizens, in terms of pregnant women. It touches on how childbirth needed to occur in the hospitals more regularly as it was required for doctors to ensure the health of both the mother and the child. This really shifted the independence of women giving birth to their child at their home, and placed increasing amount of outside opinion of what was healthy and how they could live during their pregnancy. Pregnancy and childbirth become more of a medicalized life event, opposed to the common passing along of information in families. It was stated that “women’s very citizenship became tied to maternal responsibility while many activists embraced public parenting or mothering.”[5] This article is going to work well with my research paper because I am planning on looking into how pregnancy and the contra indicators, such as alcohol were brought into consideration.

Having doctors more involved in reproduction, there was more research done, and there was more interest in the topic, as health became more and more of a common topic. It also allowed for not only doctor, but mothers to learn more about what was occurring in their bodies and how to have a health pregnancy and a healthy baby, which was becoming an increasingly high demand for society.

 

Bibliography

Kelm, Mary Ellen, “The Impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia” in Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998:

Lux, Maureen, “‘Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” Canadian Historical Review, 91, 3 (2010): 407-434.

Mennill, Sally, “Ideal Births and Ideal Babies: English-Canadian Advice Literature in the 1950s and 1960s.” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History. 2014, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p. 25-47.

Mosby, Ian, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical  Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952” Histoire sociale/Social History, XLVI, No. 91 (Mai/May 2013), 615-642.

 

[1] Ian Mosby, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952” Histoire sociale/Social History, XLVI, No. 91 (Mai/May 2013), 615-642.

 

[2] Mary Ellen Kelm, “The Impact of Colonization on Aboriginal Health in British Columbia” in Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998: 10.

 

[3] Maureen Lux, “‘Care for the ‘Racially Careless’: Indian Hospitals in the Canadian West, 1920-1950s” Canadian Historical Review, 91, 3 (2010): 407-434.

[4] Lux, “‘Care for the ‘Racially Careless’”, 433.

[5] Sally Mennill, “Ideal Births and Ideal Babies: English-Canadian Advice Literature in the 1950sand 1960s.” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History. 2014, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p. 34.

 

“Expertise, Health, and Popular Opinion: Debating Water Fluoridation” – Catherine Carstairs

This article discussed the idea that despite the opinions of the experts, and in this case, that was dentists, and doctors. At a point in history, the opinions of the experts were taken seriously, and over anything else. The issue of fluoridation of the water, became a bigger debate than expected. Women’s groups took the argument of individuals rights to their bodies, and their rights to choose. Dentists claimed that a small amount of fluoride in the water was actually beneficial to the health of teeth, and from an economic perspective this would save on dental bills. There were two sides to this debate and it has historical importance as to how society, debated over the issue, opposed to accepting the opinions of the experts. The people who were against fluoride in the water, suggested that it took the rights to choose away from individuals, they also strongly enforced all the negative effects of the exposure to fluoride, such as cancer. The opposing argument was that it was especially beneficial in the health of children’s teeth. This article has historical significance because the change in health advances and how society adapted to it. It was suggested in this article that because the impact of fluoride was seen especially in the health of children, this was a much bigger deal during the Baby Boom. During this time, the debate whether fluoride in the water was to go forward, was relay in the best interest of the children, so it fell on the parents to make the decision.

 

““The Rising Generation”: Laying Claim to the Health of Adolescents in English Canada, 1920-1970” – Cynthia Comacchio

This article was interesting to read, as the stage of the adolescent was being constructed from the 1920s to the 1970s, and the various changes that took place in society that changed the norms, and ways of thinking and dealing with certain topics and situations in societies. During this time, the idea sex underwent a dramatic change, youth were taking part in what was consider and “adult domain.”[1] Premarital sex is always considered in this time frame as the gender ideals are changing. We see the introduction of the flapper, and how that brought a new idea to how women could behave. This brought many changes to the idea of females in what was expected and what was tolerated. There was still a double standard placed on them in their relations with men, and it was continuing to be fought against. This article is important to the historiography of this topic as it adds to the issues and ideas discussed in terms of sex and this younger generation. Sex education was being introduced in schools during this time, and it was debated as to whether it was the job of the doctors, teacher or parents, and from this article, it seemed that there were many opinions as to who was the best to intervene in the knowledge of this topic. The other main topic discussed in this article is the emphasis placed on reproduction, especially the health of female. It was suggested that they did different forms of work, just so they did not jeopardize their abilities to reproduce, and that they were considered delicate and fragile. This has been seen as an important aspect of female health through history, and isn’t as much of a concern in society now, but it continuously been acknowledged through history.

 

“Doctors, Hospitals, and Field Matrons: On the Ground with Indian Health Services” –  Mary Ellen Kelm

This article has significant historical evidence due to the fact that the pluralism of indigenous medicine. It was suggested in this article that there was not enough money, for there to be a hospital in Bella Bella, and the assistance of the non-Indigenous doctors and others to support the hospital. This, in term required the Indigenous community to use the medical knowledge of non-indigenous cultures. To ensure their medical techniques and teachings were not lost in the future generations, they continued to use their own, and then take advantage of the other health care. This did cause some issues with the non-indigenous patients at the hospitals, they were requesting that the hospitals were the segregated so there was no contact with indigenous patients. We see this continuously through history, where the Indigenous communities are either isolated or attempted to be assimilated. This was much the case in this article as it discussed the segregation in the hospital, as well as the assimilation of this community. There were field matrons that were sent out to assist the indigenous people that the hired doctors refused to go help. These women were chosen as they were less expensive, due to their limited education. It was becoming the job of a women, to assist the sick, to a certain extent. With the mothering, and caregiving aspects of the gender constructed ideas, these women were primarily sent out to help these people. They still provided non-indigenous health care, so it was a form of assimilation, but it wasn’t the only form of is suggested in this article. There were missionaries that focused on medical care, and their goal was to convert as many Indigenous people as possible. A continuous struggle for the Indigenous people was seen as a group that could be taken advantage of.

 

“Effects of Alcohol on Threatened Premature Labor” – Anna-Riitta Fuchs, Fritz Fuchs, Vicente F. Poblete Jr, and Abraham Risk

This article ties slightly into the article of this week, as the information and evidence of the use of alcohol has changed over time. This article is an American source, and I do plan on incorporated it into my paper to build on the Canadian sources. The discussion of alcohol being used to prevent premature labour, and influenced the oxytocin levels in the pregnant women, which would influence the lactation process. This article is helpful to my research as it shows that the use of alcohol was useful in the prevention of the contractions. Now through research that has been done, we can see that this might have solved one problem, in this case preterm labour, but it would have caused another issue, such as the negative and permanent impact on the growing fetus. I’m using this article to show that there is a gap in the information gathered on the effects of alcohol on a growing fetus, I’m going to try to use this as an example when I look at the research involving the medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth.

 

Bibliography

Carstairs, Catherine, “Expertise, Health, and Popular Opinion: Debating Water Fluoridation, 1945- 1980,” Canadian Historical Review, 89 (2008): 345-371.

Comacchio, Cynthia, “‘The Rising Generation’: Laying Claim to the Health of Adolescents in English Canada, 1920-70,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 19 (2002): 139-178.

Fuchs, Anna-Riitta, Fritz Fuchs, Vicente F. Poblete Jr, and Abraham Risk. “Effects of Alcohol on  Threatened Premature Labor” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, (1967) 99(5) p.627-637.

Kelm, Mary Ellen, “Doctors, Hospitals, and Field Matrons.” In Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998: 129-152.

 

[1] Cynthia Comacchio, “‘The Rising Generation’: Laying Claim to the Health of Adolescents inEnglish Canada, 1920-70,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 19 (2002): 146.