This project analyses maternity services, commodification of pregnancy and changing parental expectations through commercial, political and experiential frames.
The highly valued Finnish maternity services comprise of community-based clinics, run by multiple public health nurses and one or two general physicians.
However, maternity services are undergoing changes. The ongoing health and social services reform transfers organisational responsibility from municipalities to newly established counties that need to determine who produces maternity care and how to ensure high service quality.
Concurrently, private healthcare providers are diversifying their range of services to cover maternity care. Additionally, families - expectant parents and those considering having children - are placing hopes and expectations on these important services.
The aim is to explore what is fuelling the private maternity service market in a country offering free maternity care; study the potential consequences of ‘going private’ on the legitimacy of public services; and investigate the conflicting ideas around pregnancy and conceptualisations of good care.