ABSTRACT
The context in which pregnancy is experienced is laden with paradoxes; in the heart of our construction of pregnancy in the developed world at the beginning of the twenty-®rst century lie a set of apparently con¯icting views. In this chapter we will explore these paradoxes and how they impact on the experience of women themselves and the way the research agenda has both determined and been shaped by these contradictions. In order to do this we draw on the theories and ®ndings of research outside psychology, notably that of sociologists.
