Managing risk or facilitating safety?

Editorial: You may be wondering why I am writing about super trawlers in the International Journal of Childbirth (IJC). The questions I am asking in this editorial are, has modern maternity care morphed into a super trawler of risk, scooping up with its well-meaning “net” the bycatch (healthy, young, childbearing women). I will argue that our increasing focus on managing risk is not the same as facilitating safety, and it is time for a safety approach to replace the current risk management approach.