Exploring undisturbed birth through art and social media : an interactive project with student midwives

Uppal, EL; Davies, SE; Nuttall, J; Knowles, H

Abstract

Aim: To facilitate exposure of student midwives to images of undisturbed birth by engagement with the YouTube Series of images created by artist Helen Knowles (2015).
Background: Although birth in the Western world is a relatively safe process, there is a culture of fear around the process of giving birth.Women search for ‘realistic’ accounts from other women, as indicated
by the number of hits on the YouTube videos on which Knowles’ YouTubeSeries is based.
Methods: As part of their midwifery education, midwifery students from a range of groups were shown the YouTube Series screen-print images.The associated videos were then played to the students, followed by a
class discussion.
Findings: Themes that arose from the discussions included tensions around using social media in the curriculum, and educational value of
viewing undisturbed birth.
Conclusions: It is important for midwifery educationalists to engage with technology and social media to be able to appreciate women’s and students’ perspectives. It is also necessary to be aware of potentialdifficulties inherent in the use of social media, such as in relation
to professional behaviour, the possible exploitation of women and ownership of the material. The study raised important issues for further investigation and analysis, and suggests that the videos and artwork have significant potential as tools for learning.

Citation

Uppal, E., Davies, S., Nuttall, J., & Knowles, H. (2016). Exploring undisturbed birth through art and social media : an interactive project with student midwives. British Journal of Midwifery, 24(2), https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2016.24.2.124

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 4, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 14, 2016
• Journal: British Journal of Midwifery
• Print ISSN: 0969-4900
• Publisher: MA Healthcare
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2016.24.2.124
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2016.24.2.124
• Related Public URLs: http://britishjournalofmidwifery.com