Childbirth is Ours: The Impact of a Users Association in the Reform of the Obstetric System in Spain

Abstract

This paper analyzes the contribution of the civil society association Birth is Ours (El Parto es Nuestro) to the reform of the obstetric health system in Spain from its origins in 2003 until the present years. The aim is to show to which extent the user"™s association Birth is Ours has contributed to deliberative democracy within the medical arena in Spain. To understand the kind of debate produced by childbirth activism in Spain, Marcelo Dascal"™s theory of controversies will be used. In relation to this theory, this article presents three epistemological hypotheses. First hypothesis: the civil society association Birth is Ours has contributed to deliberative democracy in Spain and Europe by deeply engaging in the obstetric debate as to achieve the move from phase 1 "“ an initial phase of technical discussion between 2001 and 2004 "“ to phase 2 "“ an intermediate phase of technical dispute between 2004 and 2007 "“, and to phase 3 "“ the actual state of technical controversy from 2007 until now. Second hypothesis: around childbirth there is nowadays a debate that we classify as controversy, following Dascalian terms. Many examples of obstetric controversies relate to when and why particular medical interventions are or are not necessary. Third hypothesis: linguistic innovation is one of the factors that turn a discussion or a dispute into a controversy. The article concludes that the civil society association Birth is Ours has: 1) given visibility to the situation of childbirth in Spain; 2) opened a controversy around obstetric issues; 3) helped to implement very important legal, social and political changes in its context. Consequently, Birth is Ours has played, and continues playing, a critical role in assessing obstetric issues. It has then assumed the shared social responsibility that is peculiar of what Bunge calls an "integral democracy" (Bunge, 2013).