Birth and power

The suppression of female supremacy in obstetric history

Abstract

The role and relevance of women in shaping society are often overshadowed by the presence of a patriarchal narrative. This erasure, which is evident in various areas such as work, education, and politics, is also present in women's specific stories, such as the cycle of conception, childbirth, and postpartum. Against this backdrop, this work aims to trace a timeline in the history of childbirth, highlighting the woman's role in this narrative and examining how her place was overshadowed by the presence of men, primarily represented by the entry of doctors into the birthing scene. Through a narrative review, significant historical milestones of social control over the female body are presented, including decades of disbelief in their physiological capacity to give birth without interventions, the epidemic of cesarean sections, and the recent shift in health consciousness where women are once again being encouraged towards natural childbirth as the better choice but are not adequately prepared for it. Finally, it points out the importance of preserving traditional female knowledge about care as a form of resistance to this social suppression, the urgent need for health education that physically and psychologically prepares these women, and the need for skilled and compassionate teams to support these moments.