The conflict between lay and professional views of labour.

This paper is one of two reviewing the evidence of differing perceptions of pregnancy and labour between medical professionals and the women who are consumers of maternity services, and how those perceptions have changed over the years. The author points out the existence of power imbalances, which can be argued as being at the root of the expert maternity committee's report, Changing Childbirth. The second article will look at the impact of the report on this situation.