Beyond Biology : pregnancy and childbirth as a lived experience of management

This thesis is an exploration of the social relations of maternity management. It is framed within the sociological discourses of medicalization and demedicalization and examines two models of health care management: medical and midwifery. In an attempt to analyze how experiences of pregnancy and childbirth are shaped by these wider social relations of management, one-to-one interviews were conducted with fifteen women in the Annapolis Valley area of Nova Scotia. The findings show there to be both diversity and commonality with respect to how women's experiences are shaped. The maternity care environment of the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia is examined in light of the newest trends of increased medicalization of pregnancy and the lack of birth options available to women.