Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by PIZZINI, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by PIZZINI, F.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Health Promotion International, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1-10, 1989
© Oxford University Press 1989

research-article

The expectant mother as patient: a research study in Italian maternity wards

FRANCA PIZZINI

Department of Sociology, University of Milan Italy This article, a chapter of a study on the social aspects of childbirth (Colombo et al., 1984) follows the expectant mother on her journey through the maternity ward, from admission to release. Three features characterize this journey: medicalization, desexualizazion and deper sonalization. The journey is represented as a drama with a beginning, a climax, and an end, presented in the following scenes.

Prologue: conferring the role of patient;

Scene 1: beginning of medicalization process;
Scene 2: desexualization phase (preparation procedures);
Scene 3: beginning of desexualized, depersonalized and medicalized phase (labour procedures);
Scene 4: climax of depersonalized, desexualized and medicalized phase (delivery procedures);

Epilogue: purification and resexualization (postdelivery procedures and release).

The phases in the unfolding of the drama are defined by the medical procedures employed. The social and anthropological analysis of these procedures set forth in this article is based on direct observation in a number of Italian hospitals.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.