Includes bibliographical references and index

From being to becoming : reconstructing childbirth knowledges / Soo Downe and Christine McCourt -- The role of pain in normal birth and the empowerment of women / Nicky Leap and Tricia Anderson -- Birth and spirituality / Jennifer Hall -- Normal birth : women's stories / Beverley A. Lawrence Beech and Belinda Phipps -- Midwives' practices in 11 UK maternity units / Marianne Mead -- Midwives constructing "normal birth" / Susan Crabtree -- Rethinking risk and safety in maternity care / Denis Walsh, Amina M.R. El-Nemer, and Soo Downe -- The early pushing urge : practice and discourse / Soo Downe ... [et al.] -- Fetal to neonatal transition : first, do no harm / Judith Mercer, Rebecca Skovgaard and Debra Erickson-Owens -- Promoting normal birth : weighing the evidence / Denis Walshl -- Aspects of a controversy : summary and debate / Soo Downe