Changing messages about place of birth in Mother and Baby magazine between 1956 and 1992

- The content of Mother and Baby magazine reflected the move from home to hospital birth between 1956 and 1992
- During this time the content changed from promoting a social model of birth to a medicalised one.
- The magazine used written content, design and layout to promote hospital birth.
- Home birth was still discussed in supportive terms in the magazine across the period, reflecting a plurality of discourse
- The study found that during this time the content of the magazine both shaped and reflected women's choices in maternity care.

Objectivethis paper explores changing messages about place of birth offered to women by Mother and Baby magazine, a UK publication aimed at a general readershipDesignthe research uses an historical perspective to explore changing messages about place of birth in Mother and Baby magazine between 1956-1992. It analyses the content and medium of the magazine through a narrative and semiotic approach.Settingthe UK between the mid-1950s and 1990s. The period was a time of significant change in the maternity services, at both a philosophical and organisational level with a move towards hospital rather than home birth and a dominant discourse which privileged medical models of care over social ones.Participantsproducers and consumers of Mother and Baby magazineFindingsMother and Baby moved from an assumption of home birth to a focus on hospital birth, reflecting national changes in policy. The magazine moved from a social to a risk focused medical view of birth, with an emphasis on the safety of the baby and the sacrifice of the mother. These changes can be traced through both the organisation and the language of content between 1956 and 1992. However, home birth was always offered to readers as a viable, if increasingly niche, option. This reflected the magazine's need to appeal to its readers as consumers; both in consumption of the magazine and of maternity care.Conclusionsthe evidence suggests that Mother and Baby magazine mirrored elements of the prevailing policy discourse around place of birth. However, it always gave space to other narratives. In doing so it reminds us of the complexity about how messages about labour and birth are told and received. It gives insight into ways in which the media lead and reflect change and the impact this might have on decision making by women.