The methods known as painless childbirth, childbirth without fear, psychoprophylaxis, and birth without violence were popularized in the 1960s and 1980s. The article examines discussions about these methods and reactions to them in Argentina and analyzes the resistance and support encountered in the local medical field when they were first tried out, along with the role played by women. It investigates the meanings of many of these ideas within the period's context of social mobilization, institutional instability, military coups, violence, censorship, and repression but also of major transformations in gender roles and relations. Lastly, it reflects on how demands for respected pregnancy and childbirth fit in with policies on sexuality and reproduction and with the feminist movement.
childbirth; history; Medicine; politics; Argentina