The technocratic, humanistic, and holistic paradigms of childbirth

A talk for the Japanese Midwives' Association, March 2002

Abstract

In this talk I will describe three paradigms of health care that heavily influence contemporary childbirth, most particularly in industrialized nations, but now increasingly all over the globe.‹SUP›1‹/SUP› I call these three paradigms the technocratic, humanistic, ‹I›and holistic models of medicine‹/I›. I will also speak about the importance of preserving midwifery around the world and most especially in Japan.