Objective: To elicit pregnant women's perceptions of childbirth as expressed in their birth plans, and through a feminist lens analyse their wishes, fears, values, and beliefs about childbirth, as well as their expectations on partner and midwife.
Design: This study used qualitative content analysis, identifying subcategories, categories, and an overall theme in data gathered from women's written birth plans. A feminist theoretical framework underpinned the research.
Setting: A middle-sized city in northern Sweden.
Participants: 132 women who gave birth in an obstetrician-led hospital labour ward between March and June 2016 and consented to grant access to their birth plans and antenatal and intrapartum electronic medical records.
Findings: Three categories emerged: 'Keeping integrity intact through specific requests and continuous dialogue with the midwife', 'A preference towards a midwife-supported birth regardless of method of pain relief", and '"Help my partner help me" - Women anticipating partner involvement.' The overall theme linking the categories together was: 'Autonomous and dependent - The dichotomy of birth', portraying women's ambiguity before birth -expressing a wish to remain in control while simultaneously letting go of control by entrusting partner and midwifewith decision-making regarding their own bodies.
Key Conclusions And Implications For Practice: Women primarily desired a natural, midwife-supported birth and favoured a relationship-based, woman-centred model of care, based on the close interaction between woman, partner, and midwife. Midwives need to be aware of women's ambiguous reliance on them and the power they have to influence women's birth choices and birth experiences. Feminist theory and values in midwifery practice may be useful to inspire a maternity care based on women's wishes and expectations, acknowledging and valuing women's voices, and embracing the sanctity of birth and of the birthing woman's body.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.10.008 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Medicinal plant species used for contraception and reproductive health care in rural Uganda.
Heliyon
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Medicinal plants form an integral part of traditional health care systems in Uganda and are known to possess a variety of bioactive compounds some of which are beneficial as contraceptives. This study documented indigenous traditional knowledge on medicinal plant species used in contraception and other reproductive health care-related issues in rural Uganda. An ethnobotanical study was conducted from December 2019 to August 2020 in four different regions of Uganda: Mpigi, Kamuli, Bushenyi and Arua.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemiologic trends of cleft lip and/or palate in Switzerland.
BMC Oral Health
January 2025
Laboratory for Oral Molecular Biology, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse 3, Bern, 3010, Switzerland.
Background: Epidemiologic data on the number of cleft lip and/or palate (orofacial cleft (OFC)) births in Switzerland are currently sparse. However, this knowledge is essential for better understanding the etiologies underlying the various cleft phenotypes and providing expectant parents with the best possible healthcare planning and counseling.
Methods: This is the first descriptive study to report data on the prevalence of the various cleft types, their sex, and regional distributions in Switzerland.
Traumatic dental injuries in the first year of life and related risk factors in three regions of Brazil: a multicenter birth cohort study.
BMC Oral Health
January 2025
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Lutheran University of Brazil, Canoas, Brazil.
Background: Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in early childhood exert a negative impact on the quality of life of children and their families. However, there is no evidence from cohort studies on which to base prevention strategies at the beginning of life, when children are entirely dependent upon supervision. The aim of the present study was to estimate the incidence of TDI in the first year of life and explore risk factors in a birth cohort followed up in three major cities in different regions of Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Early pregnancy care involves the screening and identification of women with risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth or preterm birth, to tailor pregnancy care and interventions accordingly. Most stillbirths and approximately two-thirds of preterm births, however, occur in the absence of evident risk factors. The majority of stillbirths occur in the preterm period, yet there are few interventions targeting this period, and progress to reduce stillbirth rates remains slow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMala flavor preference increases risk of excessive gestational weight gain mediated by high-carbohydrate dietary patterns in Chongqing, China: an ambispective cohort study.
Front Nutr
January 2025
Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.
Taste preference drives food selection, acceptance, or rejection and influences nutritional status and body mass index. Nevertheless, there are few reports concerning pregnant women. Mala flavor, characterized by its "numbing" and "spicy" sensations, is a distinctive taste of Sichuan cuisine, created by the combination of Chinese prickly ash and chili peppers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!