clearly affirms that women with complex
pregnancies should also benefit from a holistic approach to
maternity care aimed at normalising the experience where
possible. However, as organisation of the care of complex pregnancies
continues to be obstetrician led and hospital based,
midwives face a challenge to develop humanising models within
a culture which often ‘focus(es) on the risk rather than the person’
(Berg, 2005:9). Previous research has highlighted the constraints
and frustrations faced by midwives working within a culture
governed by a medical model, as the focus is on the biological
workings of the body rather than a more holistic social model
(Keating and Fleming, 2009; Davis and Walker, 2011). By drawing
on HIV positive women’s accounts of midwifery care received
during pregnancy, this paper argues for the need for ‘balanced
care’ (Berg, 2005:19) through a maternity care team approach
which meets all the woman and child’s medical needs, whilst also
emphasising the normalcy of pregnancy