Although, in Coast Community, all branches of medical practice experienced challenges and transformations, the practice of obstetrics became a focus for innovation, heavily influenced by “gendered ways of knowing and doing” and by a professional rethinking of approaches to obstetrical care. It also became an arena for professional and public discussion and contests about medical competence. By the early 1980s, gender and specialty coincided almost perfectly. Distinctions of gender and specialty colored how these physicians and midwives produced and regarded competing forms of knowledge...

Although, in Coast Community, all branches of medical practice experienced challenges and transformations, the practice of obstetrics became a focus for innovation, heavily influenced by “gendered ways of knowing and doing” and by a professional rethinking of approaches to obstetrical care. It also became an arena for professional and public discussion and contests about medical competence. By the early 1980s, gender and specialty coincided almost perfectly. Distinctions of gender and specialty colored how these physicians and midwives produced and regarded competing forms of knowledge relevant to obstetrical practice.