Childbirth on television: a scoping review and recommendations for further research

Abstract

Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Factual and reality television shows that depict childbirth are both commercially successful and controversial. Social debate focuses on the potential implications for women’s experiences of birth and their health. This scoping review critically analyses published literature to assess the state of knowledge about the influence of factual and reality television on the expectations and experiences of childbearing women, and to make recommendations for future research. Recognising the complexity of researching the relationship between the media and lived health experiences, we critically engage with the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the published literature and its substantive findings. We argue that the field is limited by a disconnect between media studies and health studies. Feminist approaches have both criticised the medicalised view of childbirth seen to dominate mainstream media, and the valorisation of “natural childbirth” as a standard which also disciplines women. Very little research has engaged with pregnant women’s views and experiences. Future research should engage more rigorously with diverse women who are pregnant or have recently become mothers. Recommendations for future research also include transdisciplinary collaboration for methodological innovation, research about television production processes and research that takes social media and the changing nature of television into account.