Birth professionals make art: Using participatory arts to think about being a birthing professional

Abstract

In The Birth Project we are exploring women‘s experience of childbirth and the transition to motherhood using the arts and then presenting the research findings in films and exhibitions. Our overarching research question wishes to explore what role arts engagement might have to play in antenatal and postnatal provision, especially where post-birth trauma is being translated into bodily symptoms or depression. The Birth Project is also interested in investigating to what extent clinically-related birth practices are implicated in iatrogenic outcomes, especially post-natal distress. Furthermore, the research is also concerned to explore the birth experience from the perspective of the birth professionals involved. A suite of films has been produced and several shared at the conference.