title: "A planned baby is a rarity:" monitoring and planning pregnancy in Russia.
abstract: Russia provides an interesting case for comparative research of maternity care due to the rapid social change and steep fertility decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I analyze out-patient maternity care in public sector women's clinics in St. Petersburg on the basis of qualitative observation and interview data. Gynecologists' role in monitoring pregnancy is central, resulting in an emphasis on medical expertise and risk management. Ideally, gynecologists see themselves as medical experts and maternal caretakers, but the latter role seldom materializes in practice. Gynecologists' ideas of pregnancy planning demonstrate a wish for further medicalization of maternity care.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. meri.larivaara@thl.fi
authors.forename: Meri M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Larivaara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012426:Russia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult