Episode description

The past decade has seen important shifts in when women become mothers, with 31 years now being the average age for this to occur. This has implications for fertility, pregnancy and birth experiences. Maternal age is related to ‘medical risk’ and almost one in three births now involve a Caesarean section. But how well are maternity services in the UK keeping up with these changes? Professor of Sociology, Tina Miller examines each stage of becoming a mother – from conception to antenatal preparation, labour and birth, and the postnatal period – to find out how maternity care and other services should respond to these changes.

Presenter: Tina Miller Producer: Dan Hardoon Editor: Clare Fordham Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Zeynep Gurtin, Lecturer in Women's Health at the Institute for Women's Health, UCL Marcia Inhorn, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Yale University Noreen Hart, antenatal educator Pat O'Brien, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, UCL Katherine Hales, midwife Eliane Glaser, author of "Motherhood: Feminism's Unfinished Business"