Factors affecting the provision of analgesia during childbirth, Japan.

Factors affecting the provision of analgesia during childbirth, Japan. Bull World Health Organ. 2019 Sep 01;97(9):631-636 Authors: Maeda Y, Takahashi K, Yamamoto K, Tanimoto T, Kami M, Crump A Abstract Japan's universal health-care system means that it is a very safe country in which to give birth. Perinatal outcomes in Japan are excellent, with low infant mortality and neonatal mortality. However, childbirth remains a challenge for many Japanese women, who are faced with a scarcity of places to give birth, limited availability of analgesia and social norms that favour natural birth. The number of birth facilities in Japan continues to decrease as fewer children are born. The numbers of qualified medical staff remain inadequate, with a continuing lack of female physicians, perpetuated by a pervasive negative gender bias. Recruitment efforts are underway, but few doctors want to specialize in obstetrics or gynaecology. Furthermore, around half of female obstetricians and gynaecologists in Japan's male-dominated medical system stop practising when they have their own children. The difficulty of obtaining analgesia during labour is another problem. Although low uptake of labour pain relief in Japan is said to be due to cultural influences, the root of the problem is a lack of qualified anaesthesiologists and the inflexibility of a system that will not allow other staff to be trained to administer labour analgesia. Problems with labour a...
Source: Bulletin of the World Health Organization - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Bull World Health Organ Source Type: research