RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Holistic obstetrics: the origins of “natural childbirth” in Britain JF Postgraduate Medical Journal JO Postgrad Med J FD The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine SP 168 OP 173 DO 10.1136/pmj.79.929.168 VO 79 IS 929 A1 Moscucci, O YR 2003 UL http://pmj.bmj.com/content/79/929/168.abstract AB The term “natural childbirth” denotes an approach to childbirth characterised by a bias towards physical and mental hygiene in the management of pregnancy and labour. It emerged in Britain in the interwar period, partly as a response to the growing interventionism of mainstream obstetrics. Its appeal since then has rested on the belief that it could provide a holistic approach to maternity care, capable of addressing the needs of the “whole” patient. At the same time, “natural childbirth” has provided a means of expressing anxieties about the social, economic and political upheavals of the 20th century. This paper explores this complex set of beliefs and practices by examining the ideas of some British pioneers.