The Business of Birth

Malpractice and Maternity Care in the United States

Louise Marie Roth

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781479877089
• eBook ISBN: 9781479809097
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender & The Law
• Index: Social Sciences

How the fear of malpractice affects mothers and reproductive choices Giving birth is a monumental event, not only in the personal life of the woman giving birth, but as a medical process and procedure. In The Business of Birth, Louise Marie Roth explores the process of giving birth, and the ways in which medicine and law interact to shape maternity care.Focusing on the United States, Roth explores how the law creates an environment where medical providers, malpractice attorneys, and others limit women's rights and choices during birth. She shows how a fear of liability risk often drives the decision-making process of medical providers, who prioritize hospital efficiency over patient safety, to the detriment of mothers themselves.Ultimately, Roth advocates for an approach that protects the reproductive rights of mothers. A comprehensive overview, The Business of Birth provides valuable insight into the impact of the law on mothers, medical providers, maternity care practices, and others in the United States.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. Birth Matters: The Importance of Birth and the Logic of American Maternity Care
• 2. Law Matters: Tort Regimes and Reproductive Health Regimes
• 3. Myths of Malpractice: Liability Risk in American Maternity Care
• 4. What’s the Rush?: Tort Laws and Elective Early-Term Births
• 5. The Machine That Goes Ping!: Technology Fetishism and the Electronic Fetal Monitor
• 6. If in Doubt, Cut It Out: Malpractice and Cesareans
• 7. Choice Matters: Reproductive Health Regimes and VBAC
• 8. Reproductive Regimes: The Legal Environment and Maternity Care in the United States
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Interview Methods and Data
• Appendix B: Legal Data and Measures
• Appendix C: Birth Data and Methods
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author