White middle - class women in the early feminist movement failed to appreciate the benefits they had through patriarchal gender roles and even through the law of coverture that completely subsumed a wife's rights under her husband's in the 1800s. (religion-online.org)
Some historians suggest that the right to a pain - free labor was part of the early feminist movement and also helped increase the number of women having hospital births. (pregnancy-info.net)
The movement to medicalize birth was led partly by urban middle - class women associated with the early feminist movement, who thought the freedom from pain promised by anesthesia would be empowering. (crainsnewyork.com)