The Farmer and the Obstetrician

Book excerpt: In his new book Michel Odent shows how farming and childbirth have been industrialized side by side during the 20th century - with dramatic and disturbing consequences. The similarities are striking. In both cases innovations have been presented as the long awaited solution to an old problem: the advent of powerful synthetic insecticides has, overnight, dramatically reduced the costs and increased agricultural productivity; the advent of the modern safe technique of caesarean section has offered serious new reasons to create gigantic obstetrical departments. In both spheres a small number of skeptics voiced doubts and fears concerning the negative long-term consequences of the widespread use of novel, little tested practices; although these repeated warnings initially went unheeded, they have motivated the development of "alternative" approaches and movements. At the turn of the new century the history of industrialized farming has suddenly speeded up. A collective global awareness has been sparked by a series of disasters, particularly "mad cow" and foot and mouth diseases. Industralized childbirth has not yet reached the same phase of its history, but the parallels between these two industries suggest that there is more to link the farmer and the obstetrician than we had all realized..