Positioning Theory and the Negotiation of Information Needs in a Clinical Midwifery Setting.

This article identifies some specific types of discursive positioning used by Canadian midwives and pregnant women and shows how an analysis of positioning can contribute to the study of information practices occurring within everyday conversation. It reports initial findings from an ongoing study of midwife-client communication in the Canadian province of Ontario. It uses the concept of the "information ground," a physical environment where information-seeking and exchange occur, to analyze the information needs, seeking, giving and exchange taking place when Ontario midwives and their pregnant clients meet in a clinic or home setting for prenatal visits. The study provides an opportunity to examine several specific information-seeking issues related to the physical space of the midwifery clinic and with relevance to both the everyday life information seeking of midwifery clients and the work-place information seeking of midwives. In Canada, midwifery is a fully or partially licensed profession in six of the ten provinces and one of the three territories. Midwifery services are fully government funded in four provinces.