Ob/gyn on the rise: the evolution of professional ideology in the twentieth century--Part II.

The first part of this article (Volume 11, No. 1) looked at the formation of ideology in the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology from 1920 to World War II. This was a period of professional establishment and self-definition; it saw the emergence of interventionist ideology as the dominant belief system influencing ob-gyn practice. Part II in this issue begins with the period of optimism and expansion marked by a surging post-war birth rate, and ends in 1980 with the profession on the defensive, feeling "under siege" from both lay and medical forces.