Public Communication and Understanding of Risk in Pregnancy: A Social History, 1948-Present.
Year: 2027
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis examines how risk during pregnancy has been historically constructed and communicated in UK public health discourses from 1948-present, and how historical perspectives can inform present-day (and future) understanding and practice. Using archival materials, including the British Medical Association You and Your Baby antenatal booklet, activist campaigns around alcohol, and public health messages and posters relating to infection and vaccination, it examines how risk narratives evolved in response to changing scientific knowledge, social norms and policy priorities. These messages not only conveyed information but shaped ideas around motherhood and maternal responsibility. Historical materials from these case studies were then used as elicitation devices for contemporary conversation in public engagement activities. These activities facilitated discussion about how people today interpret and respond to risk messages during pregnancy. This thesis demonstrates how history can serve as a reflective prompt, offering conceptual distance that enables discussion of sensitive topics.
Author: Errington, Kate
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7116131774