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Antenatal education: Whose purposes does it serve?

Abstract:

Teaching is an integral part of a midwife's practice, and as a midwife I have always believed that the midwife is the best health professional to provide antenatal education. I have looked on in despair as yet another area of midwifery practice has been gradually eroded, with physiotherapists and childbirth educators 'taking over' what was once the domain of the midwife. However, taking a closer look at the way politics, society and institutions control women borh as consumers of a health systerm, and as health care workers, has led me to a more in-depth examinatin of what women learn from antenatal classes, who controls these classes, and the place of the midwife as childbirth educator.

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antenatal childbirth education