Obstetric violence: conceptual proposal from Costa Rican experience

This article contains some preliminary results of a research project which main purpose is to theorize on obstetric violence from the Costa Rican case. Therefore, it proposes a new theoretical concept: the obstetric power. From this study, the article reviews relevant theoretical sources and empirical evidence related to the topic. It considers, between the available theories, that Michel Foucault's theoretical framework is a key reference for the analysis of this problem. In fact, it is possible to identify a form of disciplinary power with specific characteristics, linked to the patriarchal structure that creates gender, from which obstetric violence emerges as a control mechanism, and generator of specific subjectivities.