ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the culture of medicine with relation to maternity care as a social system in itself. It also considers birthing in the UK in relation to dominant societal themes of technocracy and the concept of authoritative knowledge embedded within scientific and medical discourse. The chapter explores maternity care in the UK utilising theory from medical anthropology. Anthropology delves deeply into a culture using ethnography to study peoples and culture. The word 'medical' in medical anthropology refers not only to biomedicine but to practices in any society that occur to alleviate suffering, prevent ill health or maintain health, to include childbirth. Midwives have historically had much control over childbirth provision until midwifery services were transferred from the district to the maternity units within National Health Service(NHS) hospitals. The socialisation process within the NHS begins with a person's experiences of the NHS as they utilise technological services within and listen to the representations and stories of their family and friends.
