ArticleSociology of health & illness2014
Renegotiating inter-professional boundaries in maternity care: implementing a clinical pathway for normal labour.
Article in Sociology of health & illness, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Beyond protocol versus judgment: A qualitative study of nurses' prioritization and integration strategies.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Article
- En Route to Midwifery Professionalisation: Contextualising Midwifery Care in the Indian Public Health System.Community health equity research & policy · 2026Article
- Obstetric violence informed by theories of intersectionality, oppression, and power dynamics-a Ghanaian's perspectives.AJOG global reports · 2025Article
- Supporting first-time parents in their homes: an informal setting enabling interprofessional collaboration.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Experiences with neonatal jaundice management in hospitals and the community: interviews with Australian health professionals.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Article
- Development of a Breech-Specific Integrated Care Pathway for Pregnant Women: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.JMIR research protocols · 2021Article
- Slovenian midwifery professionalization: Perception of midwives and related health professions.European journal of midwifery · 2021Article
- Theorising health professionals' prevention and management practices with children and young people experiencing self-harm: a qualitative hospital-based case study.Sociology of health & illness · 2021Article
- Exploring variation in the use of feedback from national clinical audits: a realist investigation.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Interventions targeted at health professionals to reduce unnecessary caesarean sections: a qualitative evidence synthesis.BMJ open · 2018Review
- Factors influencing the clinical decision-making of midwives: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2017Article
- Open, trusting relationships underpin safety in rural maternity a hermeneutic phenomenology study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2016Article
- The struggle for inter-professional teamwork and collaboration in maternity care: Austrian health professionals' perspectives on the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.BMC health services research · 2016Article
- Specialist services in the community: a qualitative study of consultants holding novel types of employment contracts in England.Future hospital journal · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This article presents findings from a study of a clinical pathway for normal labour (Normal Labour Pathway) implemented in Wales, UK. The study was conducted between 2004 and 2006. The pathway aimed to support normal childbirth and reduce unnecessary childbirth interventions by promoting midwife-led care. This article focuses on how the pathway influenced the inter-professional relationships and boundaries between midwives and doctors. Data are drawn from semi-participant observation, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 41 midwives, and semi-structured interviews with five midwifery managers and six doctors, working in two research sites. Whereas some studies have shown how clinical pathways may act as 'boundary objects', dissolving professional boundaries, promoting interdisciplinary care and de-differentiating professional identities, the 'normal labour pathway' was employed by midwives as an object of demarcation, which legitimised a midwifery model of care, clarified professional boundaries and accentuated differences in professional identities and approaches to childbirth. The pathway represented key characteristics of a professional project: achieving occupational autonomy and closure. Stricter delineation of the boundary between midwifery and obstetric work increased the confidence and professional visibility of midwives but left doctors feeling excluded and undervalued, and paradoxically reduced the scope of midwifery practice through redefining what counted as normal.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.