Understanding Technology in Birth Care from the Experiences of Taiwanese Obstetricians

Abstract

Childbirth in Taiwan is characterized by the use of intensive technological and surgical interventions. Taiwanese cesarean rates are among the highest in the world, fetal monitoring is standard, and interventions such as episiotomy and labor augmentation are routinized practices during childbirth. In this Research Note, I describe the sociopolitical context that has given rise to this situation. More specifically, based on ethnographic research concerning birth care, I explore the ways obstetricians navigate this context and highlight the values and considerations that produce and shape “care” on the ground. I argue that understanding how interventionist birth care has come about, and how it is sustained as obstetricians manage care in daily practice, is vital to inform ongoing feminist activism for women’s self-determination and the de-medicalization of childbirth in Taiwan.

• childbirth
• medicalization
• obstetricians
• feminist activism
• Taiwan

Notes

¹ The article is Errol R. Norwitz, “Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request,” www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~/hw1WZMCqim2ZX, (accessed 1 February 2009).

² The maternal class is called the Choice of Mode of Child Delivery and was held in Taipei on 21 September 2008. The lecturer is Dr. Li-Wei Huang, an obstetrician in women and children campus in Taipei City Hospital.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chen-I Kuan

Chen-I Kuan is a medical anthropologist interested in gender, technology, reproduction, parenthood, and health care. She is currently an assistant professor in the Institute of Health Behaviors and Community Sciences at the College of Public Health in National Taiwan University. Her new research project is about vaccine hesitancy and parental decision making in Taiwan.