How does pregnancy and childbirth affect women's lives? How do we understand the connections between the biological and social processes that shape experiences of pregnancy and childbirth? What influences contemporary approaches to maternity care and midwifery education? This book explores contemporary issues around pregnancy and childbirth using a feminist sociological approach. Becoming pregnant and giving birth are seen here as complex social processes. The book therefore goes beyond biological accounts of pregnancy and childbirth to examine these social processes. The biological and the social are seen as linked together. Knowledge, power, identity and the body are key concepts in the book and important for understanding the relationship between the biological and social. Written in a clear, accessible style the text will assist nurses, midwives and the caring professions to use sociological ideas and theories. It is divided into four parts that look at ways of knowing, the professionals, constructing identities and women's bodies. In the conclusion the author discusses the implications of adopting a feminist and sociological approach to health care practice.
"Social Perspectives on Pregnancy and Childbirth" has been designed for use as a key text on a range of pre-registration and post-registration degree courses for nurses and midwives, and is suitable for use on a range of undergraduate programmes in social science and health studies.