‘There are measurements, analyses, consultations ...“Attend for physiotherapy” . . . “Consult an endocrinologist” . . . “When did you last see the dentist?” And I’ve hardly left the surgery when the phone starts ringing. I know — it’s the clinic again!’ Vera says she has been ill so seldom that she hadn’t any idea that the doctors could be so nagging. ‘I’m not really annoyed, though,’ she grins. ‘I know the doctors have to take care not of me alone, but of both of us.’ (‘Vera, in our office, is expecting ...’, Soviet Weekly, 2 July 1983). Pregnancy, like other transitional social conditions, is characterized by ambiguity and hence, is open to contrasting styles of management. (Comaroff, 1977, p. 131)