Abstract

If midwives are specialists in normal childbirth, they may be soon out of a job, warn the authors. "Is our expertise only appropriate for less than one woman in five?" The door of our editorial office has a poster displayed on it which proudly reads 'Midwife: guardian of normal birth'. It encapsulates our philosophy of midwifery and describes the focus of our work. We are now discussing whether to take the poster down, on the grounds of having failed in our guardianship.