2020年经济学人 疫情使美国产妇做出新选择(1)

The pandemic is making America rethink its shunning¹ of midwifery

这场疫情致使美国重新思考它对接生的回避

In a normal year, Robina Khalid might take on 70-80 clients at her midwifery practice in New York City. But 2020 has not been a normal year. She got around 150 calls in the first half of March alone. Some enquiring² women were already late in their third trimester, she says, but were terrified of having their babies in a hospital for fear of contracting covid-19. Ms Khalid’s practice was not the only one inundated³ by calls from women entertaining the idea of a home birth. As the virus spread, so too did interest in alternative birthing options.

在正常的一年里，Robina Khalid可能会在纽约市的接生诊所接待70-80位客户。但2020年是不同寻常的一年。仅三月上旬，她就接到了150个电话。她说，一些咨询的女士已经处于第三孕期的后期，但是她们很怕在医院生孩子，因为担心会感染新冠肺炎。Khalid女士的诊所并不是唯一一个被女性打来的电话所淹没的，女士们打来电话是为满足自己家庭分娩的想法。随着病毒的传播，人们对于其他生育方式的兴趣也在增加。

Even in cities at first less hard-hit than New York, many expectant mothers avoided hospitals where they could. Nancy Gaba, chair of obstetrics and gynaecology at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, noticed an initial uptick in unplanned home births around the time the World Health Organisation⁴ (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

甚至在早期受疫情影响，相比纽约较轻的城市，许多准妈妈也尽量避免去医院。华盛顿特区乔治华盛顿大学医院妇产科主任南希·加巴注意到在世界卫生组织宣布新冠病毒爆发已构成全球流行病之际，计划外的家庭分娩开始出现小幅上升。

In the past, midwives have tended to be marginalised in America. Licensing⁵ rules vary across states, and insurance coverage⁶ for midwifery services is patchy. By contrast, Sweden has a 300- year-old tradition of professional midwifery. When a hospital in London recently went into partnership⁷ with a football stadium to give women a safe place for their prenatal check-ups during the pandemic, midwives were among the staff immediately brought in to help. In poorer countries, too, midwives are essential to maternal⁸ and public health.

过去，助产士在美国往往处于边缘化的地位。各州的职业证照制度各异，助产服务的保险范围也不尽相同。相比之下，瑞士有着300年的专业助产的传统。最近，伦敦的一家医院与一家足球场进行合作，在疫情期间为妇女们提供一个安全的产前检查场所，助产士们也随即被请来帮忙。在较贫穷的国家，助产士也对产妇和公共卫生至关重要。

1 shunning   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My flight was more a shunning of external and internal dangers. 我的出走是要避开各种外在的和内在的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• That book Yeh-yeh gave me-"On Filial Piety and the Shunning of Lewdness"-was still on the table. 我坐下来，祖父给我的那本《刘芷唐先生教孝戒淫浅训》还在桌子上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

2 enquiring   

a.爱打听的，显得好奇的

参考例句：

• a child with an enquiring mind 有好奇心的孩子
• Paul darted at her sharp enquiring glances. 她的目光敏锐好奇，保罗飞快地朝她瞥了一眼。

3 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

5 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。