Adkins, Victoria (2025) Partial ectogestation and threats to the foetus: how healthcare professionals’ caution may reinforce the medicalisation of pregnancy and childbirth. Journal of Law and Biosciences, 12 (2). pp. 1-26. ISSN 2053-9711 (Online) (doi:10.1093/jlb/lsaf023)

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Abstract

Partial ectogestation is being developed in a bid to improve the survival rates and health outcomes associated with prematurity, but limited empirical research has been conducted on the views of key stakeholders, particularly healthcare professionals, in relation to this technology. This paper explores healthcare professionals’ perspectives in England on the use and implementation of partial ectogestation, within the medicalised context of pregnancy and childbirth. Following an online survey, qualitative interviews were undertaken with 22 healthcare professionals who work closely with pregnant individuals and foetuses. Using a formula of the precautionary principle from environmental studies, the analysis presented illustrates healthcare professionals’ apprehension towards partial ectogestation. With the foetus who may come to be transferred to an artificial placenta device at the centre of their concerns, participants were cautious of the technology producing poor outcomes and pushing the boundaries of nature. In response to these threats, they encourage strict criteria and clear parameters around the use of the technology. Whilst healthcare professionals appear to endorse a social model of pregnancy when it comes to partial ectogestation, echoes of medicalisation persist through medical determinations of poor outcomes and the continued centralisation of the foetus as a patient.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	artificial placenta, caution, foetus, healthcare professionals, medicalisation, partial ectogestation
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Law and Criminology
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2025 16:55
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/51325

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