ABSTRACT
We were well along in the planning of this book when it occurred to us that we had overlooked the most important actors in the drama of birth: mothers (to-be) and their families. In our effort to explain the variation in maternity care systems we had set to work examining the influences of state policy, educational institutions, the professions, medical systems, and technological developments. In the midst of this flurry of academic research we somehow failed to ask how the preferences of pregnant women affected the delivery of care at birth.
