2020年经济学人 疫情使美国产妇做出新选择(1)（在线收听）

The pandemic is making America rethink its shunning 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 enquiring 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 inundated 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 Organisation (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. Licensing rules vary across states, and insurance coverage 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 partnership 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 maternal 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。