Holistic obstetrics: the origins of "natural childbirth" in Britain.

The term "natural childbirth" denotes an approach to childbirth characterised by a bias towards physical and mental hygiene in the management of pregnancy and labour. It emerged in Britain in the interwar period, partly as a response to the growing interventionism of mainstream obstetrics. Its appeal since then has rested on the belief that it could provide a holistic approach to maternity care, capable of addressing the needs of the "whole" patient. At the same time, "natural childbirth" has provided a means of expressing anxieties about the social, economic and political upheavals of the 20th century. This paper explores this complex set of beliefs and practices by examining the ideas of some British pioneers

The British Fight against Cancer: Publicity and Education, 1900–1948

This article explores the early history of cancer education in Britain, focusing on the period between 1900, when discussions about a public ‘crusade’ against cancer began in Britain, and the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. Arising from debates around the development of invasive operations for cervical cancer, the campaign had a cautious start because of important uncertainties about the efficacy of available therapies, worries about the undesirable effects of partial knowledge, and anxieties about creating demands that could not be fulfilled. Against this background, anti-cancer activists attempted to produce a discourse which would not undermine people's faith in medical science, and which would encourage people to consult their doctors without putting excessive pressure on health services funded by public money. A ‘regime’ of hope came to the fore that served to draw patients, philanthropists, practitioners and researchers together into a joint market agenda

The risky womb and the unthinkability of the pregnant man: addressing trans masculine hysterectomy

In April 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requiring trans people to undergo sterilisation in order to grant legal gender recognition was a breach of human rights. In the UK, sterilisation has never been a legal requirement for trans people. However, hysterectomy and salpingo-oopherectomy have been strongly encouraged for trans masculine people on medical grounds, although the clinical evidence for current recommendations is weak. Within this article I analyse the issue from a feminist perspective and argue that current presumptions in favour of surgical intervention are influenced by the history of medical interventions to “fix” bodies perceived as female, coupled with a strong social taboo against the pregnant man. As a consequence, medical and legal frameworks are not necessarily facilitating optimal outcomes for the individual. I suggest that practices in this regard should be critically examined, with a view to developing more tailored, person-centred practices and facilitating informed choice

'The "ineffable freemasonry of sex": feminist surgeons and the establishment of radiotherapy in early twentieth-century Britain'

In 1924 the London Committee of the Medical Women's Federation was instrumental in establishing a clinic for the purpose of investigating the radium treatment of cervical cancer. The scheme was later to evolve into a hospital, the Marie Curie, where adherence to the methods developed in Stockholm served to establish radiotherapy as an alternative to surgery in cancer of the cervix. This article examines the women's contribution in the light of feminist and professional struggles over the relative merits of surgery and radiotherapy. It argues that radiotherapy was an issue of special interest to women surgeons, not only because of the long history of feminist opposition to gynecological surgery, but also because it could widen women's access to the medical profession in the face of male exclusion from training posts and honorary appointments at voluntary hospitals

Networking health research networks in Britain: the post-war childhood leukaemia trials

The treatment of childhood leukaemia is seen as a successful historical example of the operation of the randomized controlled trial and continues to inform contemporary policy making on such trials within health research. This article analyses the scientists’ ‘story of success’ through historical research. It tells us about the organizational and professional structures of such research post-war in the United Kingdom, and examines the history of the cancer clinical trial through this particular example. The story reveals a more complex picture than the ‘heroic’ one, with key developments in the operation of post-war science, both in terms of its infrastructure and of its scientific networks, not least the rise of co-operative working among clinicians and the growing importance of statisticians in medical research and practice. It also underlines differences between the British and US approaches in which the role of one health system, the National Health Service, helped structure different, initially less intensive, patterns of response