[Analysis of pregnant women's narratives]

Due to the fact that numerous social situations are directed by the provision of medical care and guide individuals to conform to general norms which are to the detriment of the individuality of specific cases, care remains embedded in logic intrinsically linked to machines and reflecting these norms, and finally eliminates them from the relational dimension of these situations. Nevertheless, human beings tend to maintain their individuality and humanity, by inscribing these situations within a general anthropological model of giving and counter-giving. The analysis of narratives of pregnant women allows us to highlight a sort of normative conditioning towards medical norms and to demonstrate their escape from standardization. It depicts a picture of how women try to overcome the problems created by modern medical care solely obeying the rationale of public health management at a crossroads where knowledge development and social progress should have been able to bring about greater welfare.