Epidural Definition

In our society, medical conditions are treated with medications and routine doctors ' checkups. On the other hand, the challenges encountered by humans in the course of their lives are being classified as medical conditions on a very large scale. Sociologists study those social processes that lead a particular life challenge to be identified as a medical condition to be treated. For instance, pregnancy and childbirth have become a life challenge for women, and as a consequence, they have been medicalized. In every country, the percentage the percentage of childbirth through cesarean delivery or with epidural varies. In the United States this percentages are considerably high. In fact, pregnancy and childbirth are considered almost like a disease

It makes sense that, in a society like the United States, so afraid of experiencing pain, and over and self treated in many instances, the possibility of having an epidural administered, in order to avoid labor pains, is no longer a choice, but more of a routine. In fact, a mother who wants to experience a natural labor has to specifically request for the epidural not to be performed on her. In many other countries, the practice of the epidural became available just recently, and a mother has to request it way before the birth of the child because natural labor is still the common routine of delivering a baby. A latent function of childbirth, in regard to the epidural practice, may be the fact a mother will actually feel better right after the birth of her child because her body, from the hips down, is anesthetized. This fact could lead to a better post-labor experience compared to that of mothers who gave natural births, and because of the extreme pain, are exhausted both physically and mentally. However, there are many latent dysfunctions associated with the practice of epidural because the reactions of the body to it, like to any other type of anesthesia, are extremely