Birthing Autonomy
Women's Experiences of Home Births

Home births are a popular choice for expectant mothers. This work explores the opinions of expectant mothers and professionals in a way that student and practicing midwives can identify with.

As the rate of home births continues to increase, health policymakers are considering the best ways to deliver community-based midwifery services and training in home births for new midwives and obstetricians. In this first qualitative exploration of home births in the UK, Nadine Edwards focuses on women's experiences of planning home births on hospital birth culture. She looks at how differently the pros and cons of home births are constructed and considered by expectant mothers and by the medical profession. Key questions explored by Edwards are: What do we know? How have we got here? What's safe and what's risky? This academically outstanding work is solidly based in feminist theories, and looks at topical issues surrounding empowerment and technomedical culture. A perfect reference for midwives and obstetricians.

1. Setting the Scene. 2. What Do We Know? What Does She Know? 3. How Have We Got Here? Historical Perspectives. 4. 'Babies are Born in Hospital': Planning a Home Birth in a Hospital Birth Culture. 5. 'It's About You and Your Baby': What's Safe and What's Risky? 6 'What I Really Need is Support': Relationships Between Women and Midwives. 7 The Potential Abuses of Obstetrics: Women's Experiences 8 Where Now?