Born in Corruption: Maternity Care after the Change of System in Hungary
Born in Corruption: Maternity Care after the Change of System in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: By today Hungarian maternity care is defined by both an over-medicalised approach to childbirth and an almost universal corruption problem. The current article aims to explore the relationship between technocratic maternity care and informal payments in Hungary, to provide a framework for understanding the context in which Hungarian women regularly engage with subsets of gendered corruption during the perinatal period. Looking at the development and current situation of modern maternity care in Hungary and assessing the historic development of public healthcare and micro-level corruption lays out the theoretical foundations for the article. Drawing on recent findings in the intersections of informal payments and maternity care the chosen doctor-driven subset of informal payments is introduced. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with maternity care professionals resulted in identifying 7 significant problem areas which are interlaced with corruption in maternity care. Revision of the selected interview excerpts led to the conclusion that in the Hungarian context modern, technocratic maternity care and gendered corruption (especially the chosen doctor - model of care) are interconnected and support each other. Further research is needed to discover how these phenomena became interlaced historically and to formulate women-centered policy recommendations for resolving this issue.

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