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Authority, Legitimacy & Regulation in the British Birth Space with Dr. Anna Nelson

REGISTRATION - In person /

This talk will unpack the ways in authority, ‘professional’ legitimacy and the construction of a ‘good birth’ are negotiated, regulated and contested in the birth space, drawing on qualitative data with midwives and doulas and analysis of the regulatory structures surrounding birth in Britain. It is informed by my work on two projects – Birth Doulas as a Liminal Actor With/In Medical Law (PI: Prof Beverley Clough, MMU) and Between Deception and Dissent (PI: Prof Emilie Cloatre, KCL).

The landscape of birth in Britain is increasingly fraught, and there is growing recognition that maternity care is experienced as traumatic and harmful by many birthing people – particularly those who are Black and Brown (Birthrights, 2022). Midwifery remains the most common form of primary care, yet is under-resourced (RCM, 2026), and many midwives feel that they are unable to practice in a way which aligns with their training and professional ethics. Some are also concerned that they are being scapegoated for wider systemic problems by politicians, the media and even their own regulator (Harland, 2026). Birth doulas remain relatively uncommon, though there is anecdotal evidence that interest in doulas is increasing. Those who use a doula often do so alongside midwifery care.

Within this context, tensions about authority, legitimacy, and who gets to define a ‘good birth’ are magnified. Inter- and intra-professional tensions complicate the picture, as does the fact that the boundaries between different actors in birth can themselves be blurry and contested. Understanding these contestations will also require us to situate birth doulas and midwives within the cultural, historic, institutional and gendered context in which they operate.

Bio: Anna Nelson (she / her) is a feminist socio-legal researcher, with a particular interest childbirth. Her research often explores the way that law interacts with medical norms, and the impact this can have on consent, care and choice. She has a PhD in Bioethics & Medical Jurisprudence from the University of Manchester, and is a Postdoc on the Wellcome Trust funded project, Between Deception and Dissent: Regulating Unproven, Disproven and Misleading Health Related Claims. She is also the Co-I on, Birth Doulas as a Liminal Actor with/in Medical Law, a project about how birth doulas encounter and navigate law.

Suggested Reading:

· Zoey Spendlove, ‘Risk and boundary work in contemporary maternity care: tensions and consequences’ (2018) 20 Health, Risk & Society 63:

· Christina Young, ‘Professional ambivalence among care works: the case of doula practice’ (2021) 25 Health 306:

· Additionally, if you are interested in a historical perspective, I recommend: Sarah Fox and Margaret Brazier, ‘The Regulation of Midwives in England, c. 1500-1902’ (2020) 20 Medical Law International 308: