#12306. The transformations of medicalization of pain relief in the organization of perinatal care system in Quebec

August 2026publication date
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Journal’s subject area:
Sociology and Political Science;
Health (social science);
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Abstract:
This article analyzes the contemporary transformation of the medicalization of pain relief in the perinatal care system in Quebec. The consequences of this transformation are analyzed through the common recourse to epidural anesthetics to relieve women’s pain during childbirth. I discuss the relevance of medicalization and demedicalization for a theoretical analysis of this transformation. By taking into account the three levels of medicalization suggested by Conrad and Schneider (conceptual, interactional, and institutional), I argue that the expertise related to the relief of pain during childbirth is transferred from health professionals to women through a naturalization of women’s competences process. I revisit the use of the concept of medicalization to analyze how pain during childbirth could be simultaneously the subject of double and continuous demedicalization and medicalization. I conclude that the transformations of the Quebec perinatal system cannot be completely part of a demedicalization process but rather part of a form of medicalization where the different levels of medicalization are modulated.
Keywords:
Childbirth; Health systems; Healthcare organization; Medicalization; Pain; Women

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