21 Hannah Slack and Beatrice Bennett
Channel: Virtual Midwives
Date: 05/06/2020

VIDM 2020 :: Student midwives' views and experiences of birth on mainstream factual television.

Facilitator: Jennifer Akuamoah-Boeteng

Childbirth is a popular topic for mainstream factual television. Reality TV shows, like One Born Every Minute and Delivering Babies, attract large audiences but it was unclear how that might influence students’ decisions to study midwifery.

The objectives were to investigate student midwives’ experiences of viewing childbirth on mainstream factual television and to explore implications for career intentions and potential pedagogical uses of television excerpts in midwifery education.

Following four focus groups and thematic analysis, four main themes were agreed upon:

a) Changed Perspectives on Televised Childbirth
b) Representations of Midwives and Social Implications
c) Representation of Childbirth and Social Implications
d) The Role of Televising Childbirth in Midwifery Education

We will discuss the research that was undertaken, the findings with explanations and the conclusions that have followed on from this, including future recommendations.