Woman: “I can’t terminate”
The midwife wants to be certain that the woman’s choice is truly rooted
in religious authority and not in a “false belief” concerning the risk
of a miscarriage. The woman’s confirmation generally puts an end to the
interactions. Such situations often lead to reciprocal mistrust. This
can be seen in the post-consultation comment made by a French consultant
concerning a woman whose foetus is at risk of a genetic disease and who,
for religious reasons, twice rejected the offer of a diagnostic test:
“It’s not complicated. For us she just wouldn’t listen!” . The
few times the woman spoke during the ultrasound examination shows how
little she believed in technology. When the obstetrician observes that“the baby is not very big, especially the head”, she retorts:“my first child also had a small head, but afterwards it grew”(African woman, France). Women’s mistrust of medicine can also be found
in England: “the doctor told me that a baby would have disability
but when the baby is born …it was a minor problem”
The religious authority frame may remain latent in many situations;
women turn to this frame to make a decision, without necessarily
offering any justification, either because they feel it is a private
matter, or because they fear a negative reaction or insistence from
practitioners.