Continuity of Midwifery Care in England: A New Professional Project?

Abstract

Over the last decade, an increasing amount of research has examined the relationship between gender and professionalization using female professional projects to illustrate how the generic notion of a profession has been a gendered one. This paper develops Witz's (1990) theory of professional strategies in female‐dominated occupations particularly regarding midwives in Britain in the twentieth century and suggests that an important dimension that also needs to be critically examined in midwifery history is the interaction of gender and social class within midwifery. Furthermore it documents the traditional emphasis in midwifery on the single woman's career path. This historical analysis has resonance today as midwifery in Britain is undergoing a renaissance. The role of the midwife and the current organization of the maternity services are being reviewed with the intention of providing increased choice and control over the reproductive process for women and increased continuity of care with a midwife. These changes are viewed as midwives' new professional project and the implications for midwives and women discussed. The aim of this paper is to explore the explanatory power of these approaches to current developments in maternity care and by drawing historical parallels, consider the impact that this professionalizing strategy may have for those who are excluded from this process of ‘dual closure’. Furthermore, this paper asks whether this new way of working empowers midwives, women, both or neither?

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