Professional autonomy for midwives in the contemporary UK maternity system: part 1

The history and professionalisation of midwifery have travelled through turbulent times to arrive at an opportunity for transformation in the contemporary UK maternity system. This professionalisation, the midwifery profession and professional autonomy are explored from a sociological perspective to answer the title question.
This is a two-part article. Part one has a strong focus on the historical context of midwifery, government policy and guidelines, risk, litigation and increasing managerialisation to frame the discussion in part two. The second part provides a discussion of autonomy, choice, managerialisation and reflexive practice in order to create a conceptual framework utilising the concept New Professional Midwifery. This is to centralise a core belief in midwifery autonomy and women’s choice facilitation.