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

Divall, Bernie

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: May 2, 2019
• 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/”
• Contract Date: May 22, 2018