"With Ivana at home" - natural childbirth as a disruption of power discourse: discoursive analysis of www.pribehyproivanu.cz

The topic of this thesis is woman's experience with natural childbirth and its potential for disruption of medical discourse, which is in the Czech Republic in obstetrics still dominating. Through the method of discoursive analysis I am trying to generate any behavior that may be in conflict with social expectations and may question norms and standards in the field of pregnancy and obstetrics. I am also trying to trace whether and how does the deepening and gaining of the birth knowledge lead to the transformation of woman's identity. Theoretically, the work is grounded in a post-structuralist paradigm and builds on the concepts of biopower, performative acting and authoritative knowledge. Data sources are stories written in support of a midwife Ivana Königsmarková and published on the internet (www.pribehyproivanu.cz)