Power, professionalisation and midwifery

Abstract

In this chapter we explore the nature of professionalisation and its significance and application for midwifery. We begin by looking at the sociological approach to a definition of a profession and at the way in which gender has been a crucial division of identity between the dominant male-based ‘professions’ and the largely female ‘semi-professions’ and at the strategies which different groups engage in order to construct spheres of power.