ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the discovery of the foetus and the explosion in the belief in scientific birth during the period between 1920 to 1960, and discusses the impact that these had on patterns of care. It argues that social and class connections between women’s groups and doctors in particular gave them unique access to debate and policy around maternity care. The chapter considers the rise of scientific birth, and the attitude to it expressed by midwives and women. It also explore the impact of these debates on the place of birth, as well the work of consumer groups such as the NCT and Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services, and attempts by policy makers and institutions to ‘humanise’ birth in a world of machines. The chapter summarizes the work of midwives across this period, and the extent to which they and women were able to make common cause in the face of changing patterns of care.
