WOMEN are having unnecessary caesarean sections, and cases of genital mutilation and medical errors have gone unreported due to a culture of ''tribal loyalty'' among obstetricians, a health sociologist has claimed.

La Trobe University's Kerreen Reiger says doctors are treating childbirth as an illness, leaving many women powerless in the delivery room, sometimes with harmful results - claims strongly rejected by obstetricians.

Doctors are treating childbirth as an illness, claims La Trobe University's Kerreen Reiger. Credit:iStock Photo

''Obstetricians are doing unnecessary episiotomies [vaginal cuts during labour] and far too many caesareans,'' she says. ''It's a long-standing culture of professional hubris, a particular style of arrogance, which says: 'Don't question me, I'm the expert; don't bring a private midwife with you because I don't want her there.'''

Associate Professor Reiger studied public inquiries in Australia, Ireland and Britain, and concluded concerns about alleged misconduct by obstetricians and gynaecologists were often not pursued due to a culture of ''cover-up and self-interest''.