Like all humans, women who deliver have the right to receiving the best possible health care. This also includes the right to good obstetrics. Against the backdrop of the question of what constitutes “good obstetrics”, the idea of a “self-determined childbirth” has gained increasing professional and public attention in recent years. However, it remains unclear which meaning and relevance maternal self-determination has during childbirth, how it is expressed, how it is negotiated, and by which factors it is promoted or limited. This may lead to differing views as to whether and when violations of self-determination are perceived as such, and how such a violation is classified (e.g. as “necessary intervention” or “violence”).

The qualitative PhD project explores these questions by means of situation analyses from the perspectives of midwives who work in different environments (clinics, birth centers, home births). It is intended to make an empirical and theoretical contribution to a better understanding of maternal self-determination during childbirth.

Processor: Marie Tallarek