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Competing discourses of risk and woman-centred care: challenges for midwives and women

Divall, Bernie

Authors

Bernie Divall



Abstract

Pregnant women and their birth partners require detailed, evidence-based information from healthcare professionals throughout pregnancy and birth, in order to make informed decisions about their care choices and preferences. However, healthcare professionals - particularly midwives - operate within competing discourses of risk avoidance and woman-centred, personalised models of care, and bring their own perceptions of risk to the discussions they have with women. This article outlines the concept of risk and its relevance to contemporary maternity care, and using the example of birth plans, explores ways in which midwives and the women in their care might better negotiate competing discourses of risk and woman-centred care.

Citation

Divall, B. (2018). Competing discourses of risk and woman-centred care: challenges for midwives and women. International Journal of Birth and Parent Education, 5(3),

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 22, 2018
Publication Date May 1, 2018
Deposit Date May 22, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal International Journal of Birth and Parent Education
Electronic ISSN 2054-0779
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Issue 3
Keywords risk; birth plans; midwives; cultural narratives
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/930654
Related Public URLs https://ijbpe.com/
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by the International Journal of Birth and Parent Education on 1 May 2018, available at https://ijbpe.com/

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