£266,278, BUPA Foundation. This study extends the findings of a study started in 2007 which compared the experiences of women having their first babies today with those of women in the mid-1970s. The focus of both the 1970s and 2007 studies is on how pregnancy and childbirth are handled by midwives, doctors and hospitals and how women feel about this. Both studies also look at how social factors, such as housing, employment and support, affect women's experiences. Between the 1970s and now, women's situation as mothers and the provision of maternity care have changed considerably. We do not know very much about how such factors as changes in maternity rights and the timing of mothers' return to work, or the increased use of pregnancy screening tests and Caesarean section, alter women's experiences of motherhood. Research Methods Seventy women were recruited from a antenatal clinic in a West London hospital. They were interviewed four times, twice when pregnant and twice when their babies were about 6 weeks and then 5 months old. The final part of the study involves reinterviewing these women when their children are eighteen months old