An investigation into how midwives make sense of the concept of risk : how do midwifery perceptions of risk impinge upon maternity care services

This thesis is the product of an ethnographic discourse analysis of midwifery talk and practice, and the data used to inform-this work was collected in the south-east of England. The analytical focus of the thesis is on how risk is understood within the context of midwifery knowledge and expertise and how this is expressed within contemporary childbirth performance. The proposition being made is that the meaning of risk should not be taken as a given and that, although much of routine midwifery activity circulates around sensitivity to risk, the precise meaning of risk is rarely articulated or questioned by practitioners.

By using a combination of both qualitative methodological and analytical devices, it has been possible to explore the social and political operations of the interpretative work midwives do when translating risk into meaningful action and the impact this has upon the way birth can be both imagined and performed.