Define medicalization and provide a historical example.

• A. Medicalization is turning nonmedical problems into medical issues; for example childbirth becoming primarily medical with hospital births.
• B. Medicalization is reducing medical roles in society.
• C. Medicalization is expanding natural births at home.
• D. Medicalization is a purely theoretical concept with no real-world example.

Answer: (A)

Medicalization is the process by which everyday life or nonmedical problems are redefined and treated as medical issues, often under the authority of medical professionals and institutions. A classic historical example is childbirth, which shifted from mostly home-based, community-supported births to hospital births overseen by doctors, with anesthesia and other medical interventions becoming routine. This illustrates how social forces—professional power, technology, and institutions—shape what is considered a medical problem and how it should be treated. The other options don’t capture this idea: it isn’t about reducing medical roles, it isn’t about expanding home births, and it isn’t just a theoretical concept—there are clear real-world shifts like hospital birth that demonstrate medicalization.