ABSTRACT
A superstructure of governmentality came to bear on maternal health: overarching state policies about the adequacy of maternal health were accompanied by a major expansion of medical research alongside new drugs and technologies. In the UK, the National Health Service from 1948 onward offered state-funded maternity care free at the point of use. Maternity hospitals and units form one part of a health service for which the state claims overall responsibility in maintaining the national good and well-being. Throughout the twentieth century, maternal mortality fell dramatically in countries that are termed 'developed economies'. The tenet of state responsibility contributed to the establishment in 1952 in the UK of the National Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, reporting directly to the Minister for Health. Obstetrics won its ground as a science worthy of respect largely on its claims that it could rescue women from death. The Rotunda Hospital in its annual clinical reports recorded thirteen maternal deaths between 2009 and 2013.
