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DESCRIPTION:Authority\, Legitimacy & Regulation in the British Birth Space 
 with Dr. Anna Nelson\n\nREGISTRATION - In person / Online\n\nThis talk wil
 l unpack the ways in authority\, ‘professional’ legitimacy and the constru
 ction of a ‘good birth’ are negotiated\, regulated and contested in the bi
 rth space\, drawing on qualitative data with midwives and doulas and analy
 sis of the regulatory structures surrounding birth in Britain. It is infor
 med by my work on two projects – Birth Doulas as a Liminal Actor With/In M
 edical Law (PI: Prof Beverley Clough\, MMU) and Between Deception and Diss
 ent (PI: Prof Emilie Cloatre\, KCL).\n\nThe landscape of birth in Britain 
 is increasingly fraught\, and there is growing recognition that maternity 
 care is experienced as traumatic and harmful by many birthing people – par
 ticularly those who are Black and Brown (Birthrights\, 2022). Midwifery re
 mains the most common form of primary care\, yet is under-resourced (RCM\,
  2026)\, and many midwives feel that they are unable to practice in a way 
 which aligns with their training and professional ethics. Some are also co
 ncerned that they are being scapegoated for wider systemic problems by pol
 iticians\, the media and even their own regulator (Harland\, 2026). Birth 
 doulas remain relatively uncommon\, though there is anecdotal evidence tha
 t interest in doulas is increasing. Those who use a doula often do so alon
 gside midwifery care.\n\nWithin this context\, tensions about authority\, 
 legitimacy\, and who gets to define a ‘good birth’ are magnified. Inter- a
 nd intra-professional tensions complicate the picture\, as does the fact t
 hat the boundaries between different actors in birth can themselves be blu
 rry and contested. Understanding these contestations will also require us 
 to situate birth doulas and midwives within the cultural\, historic\, inst
 itutional and gendered context in which they operate.\n\nBio: Anna Nelson 
 (she / her) is a feminist socio-legal researcher\, with a particular inter
 est childbirth. Her research often explores the way that law interacts wit
 h medical norms\, and the impact this can have on consent\, care and choic
 e. She has a PhD in Bioethics & Medical Jurisprudence from the University 
 of Manchester\, and is a Postdoc on the Wellcome Trust funded project\, Be
 tween Deception and Dissent: Regulating Unproven\, Disproven and Misleadin
 g Health Related Claims. She is also the Co-I on\, Birth Doulas as a Limin
 al Actor with/in Medical Law\, a project about how birth doulas encounter 
 and navigate law.\n\nSuggested Reading:\n\n· Zoey Spendlove\, ‘Risk and bo
 undary work in contemporary maternity care: tensions and consequences’ (20
 18) 20 Health\, Risk & Society 63: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2017.1
 398820\n\n· Christina Young\, ‘Professional ambivalence among care works: 
 the case of doula practice’ (2021) 25 Health 306: https://doi.org/10.1177/
 1363459319886115\n\n· Additionally\, if you are interested in a historical
  perspective\, I recommend: Sarah Fox and Margaret Brazier\, ‘The Regulati
 on of Midwives in England\, c. 1500-1902’ (2020) 20 Medical Law Internatio
 nal 308: https://doi.org/10.1177/0968533220976174\n
DTSTART:20261001T173000Z
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SUMMARY:Authority\, Legitimacy & Regulation in the British Birth Space
URL:/equity-ethics-policy/channels/event/authority-leg
 itimacy-regulation-british-birth-space-373622
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