Introduction: Cultures of Birth

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Notes

¹Dr Ursula von der Leyen, quoted in the New York Times (International Supplement), Saturday, 20 May 2006, p. 7.

²While it is true that a significant reduction in rates of maternal and infant perinatal mortality has accompanied hospitalization, it is not clear whether these two factors are related causally or coincidentally. Certainly, a comparison of two developed countries such as France and the Netherlands suggests that high levels of systematic, hospitalized medical intervention—prevalent in France—do not lead to better outcomes in terms of safety than does a more selective model based on the norm of birth at home, as has been the case in the Netherlands. See Pasveer and Akrich 1996, and Martin 2006.