Teams and the marginalization of midwifery knowledge

This paper is the third in a four-part series drawn from the findings of a masters degree dissertation which looked at midwives' experiences of becoming integrated within teams in a district general hospital in the north of England. This discussion will centre on midwifery knowledge and how it would appear that despite the rhetoric, midwifery knowledge continues to be marginalized. Regardless of the proposed moves towards more care in the community, the prevailing authoritative knowledge around birth remains confined to the techno-medical model, which confines midwives to a practice that is not the art and science of midwifery.