Social distress and the perinatal period

A risk made invisible by inter/ intraprofessional tensions?

Abstract

In high-income countries, social inequalities in perinatal health result in a higher morbi-mortality of immigrant women. Based on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Swiss community midwives, this article analyses the situation and care of immigrant women who suffer from social distress such as poverty, loneliness or vio- lence. These situations demand an inter/intraprofessional collaboration – which can be difficult to implement according to midwives. The article further analyses how inter/ intraprofessional tensions may hinder the circulation of information and the delivery of care to mothers in social distress from the standpoint of the sociology of professions.