La consolidación de la práctica obstétrica en Bogotá, Colombia (1880-1938)
Desplazamientos y tensiones en el campo reproductivo
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17544941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | María Paula García Escobar (0009-0000-5681-5098, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Issue | 100 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Historia Crítica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0121-1617 • E-ISSN: 1900-6152 |
| Publisher | Universidad de los Andes (PUBLISHER • VE) |
| DOI | 10.7440/histcrit100.2026.04 |
| OpenAlex | W7160190900 |
| Language | ES |
| References cited | 9 |
Objective/context: In this text, I analyze the medicalization/modernization of childbirth, a concept I develop to understand how obstetrics became established as one of the legitimate bodies of knowledge about reproduction, redefining childbirth and motherhood as objects of medical intervention in Bogotá. To achieve this, I examine the period from 1880 to 1938, focusing on the consolidation of the link between academic training, hospital practices, and medical knowledge. Methodology: This research employs a critical discourse analysis based on the proposals of Ian Parker and Siegfried Jäger. I examined a documentary corpus comprising texts aimed at mothers on childcare, as well as specialized medical texts, particularly undergraduate theses in medicine from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Originality: Unlike existing works that have addressed eugenics and biopolitics without directly linking them to obstetric practice, this work reveals the connection between the rise of eugenic ideas and the institutionalization of obstetric knowledge. It also emphasizes the tensions between medical knowledge and popular female reproductive understanding, demonstrating how the consolidation of obstetrics involved not only a technical displacement but also an active discrediting of women’s knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth. Conclusions: Medical discourse established itself as a field of knowledge in opposition to women’s wisdom, presenting a pathological and technical view of pregnancy and childbirth. This is evident in the expansion of procedures like analgesia and anesthesia, which show how reproductive knowledge traditionally held by women was displaced and transferred to male physicians. The sources analyzed reflect an androcentric perspective of the pregnant body, reinforcing a new form of control rooted in hierarchies of gender, race, and class
Biopower · Childbirth · Consolidation (business) · Eugenics · Institutionalisation · Medical knowledge · Medicalization · Opposition (politics) · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History of Medicine and Tropical Health
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |