The Medicalisation of Childbirth : a Technocratic Model of Birth in Public Hospitals in Croatia

Paska, Danijela (author)

Beyond its biological functions, reproductive health represents a powerful discursive field. Women’s reproductive health has been and continues to be regulated by societal norms, reli-gious doctrines, and political policies. This article examines how regulatory forces manifest in the medical management of childbirth in Croatian public hospitals, particularly through the medicalisation of birth and the adoption of a technocratic model of care. In this tech-nocratic paradigm, the female body is perceived as a reproductive machine, the woman is objectified, and medical personnel become alienated.

• Language: English
• Keywords: reproductive health, gender, public hospitals, biopower, medical care, medikalizacija
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Hrvaška
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.02.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 78-89
• Numbering: Letn. 4, št. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180169
• UDC: 39:612.63.028:616.085(497.5)
• ISSN on article: 2820-6088
• DOI: 10.4312/svetovi.4.1.78-89
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270439427
• Publication date in RUL: 04.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Svetovi
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2820-6088
• COBISS.SI-ID: 148550403

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Medikalizacija poroda : tehnokratski model rojstva v javnih bolnišnicah na Hrvaškem

Abstract

Poleg svojih bioloških funkcij reproduktivno zdravje predstavlja močno diskurzivno polje. Reproduktivno zdravje žensk je bilo in še vedno je podvrženo regulaciji družbenih norm, verskih doktrin ter politik. Članek proučuje, kako se te regulativne sile kažejo v medicin-skem upravljanju poroda v hrvaških javnih bolnišnicah, zlasti z medikalizacijo poroda in sprejetjem tehnokratskega modela oskrbe. V tem tehnokratskem paradigmatskem okviru je žensko telo dojeto kot reproduktivni stroj, ženska je objektivizirana, medicinsko osebje pa postane odtujeno.

• Keywords: reproduktivno zdravje, spol, javne bolnišnice, biomoč, zdravstvena oskrba, medicalization