Although study participants felt that all health professionals
had a responsibility to provide advice and guidance
about the benefits or resources available, they
generally felt that the midwife was the most appropriate
person to provide support and guidance. Typologies
developed around the perceived behavioural expectations
of midwives emphasised how most of the study participants
felt that their midwife had assumed a 'non-advisory'
role, i.e. they had provided minimal or no activity advice
during pregnancy. No midwives had been perceived to
offer an 'active advisory' role, i.e. where they would
actively encourage women to be physically active during
pregnancy