Malmö University Publications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Creating a Safe Haven: Women's Experiences of the Midwife's Professional Skills During Planned Home Birth in Four Nordic Countries
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Health and Society (HS), Department of Health and Welfare Studies (HV). Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department Skåne, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Health and Society (HS), Department of Health and Welfare Studies (HV). Skåne University Hospital, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9300-6422
Department of Health and Caring Science, The Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
2014 (English)In: Birth, ISSN 0730-7659, E-ISSN 1523-536X, Vol. 47, no 1, p. 100-107Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Objective The midwife assisting a birth has a considerable influence on the woman's experience of the birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the experience of the midwife's professional skills among women in Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden who chose a planned home birth. Design and Setting All known home birth midwives were asked to inform the mothers about the project and invite them to complete a questionnaire about different aspects of their home birth experience. Method The women were asked to assess 10 different aspects of the midwives' professional skills on a 4-graded scale below the main question: What was your experience of the midwife who assisted the labor? Furthermore, the mothers' experiences with the attending midwives were identified in the free text birth stories. The chosen method was a mixed method design. Findings The home birth midwives' professional skills were generally high scored. No statistically significant differences were found with respect to the assessment of the midwife. The content analyses yielded one overarching theme: The competence and presence of the midwife creates a safe haven, and three categories, midwife's safe hand, midwife's caring approach, and midwife's peaceful presence. Conclusion Women choosing a home birth in the four Nordic countries experienced that their midwives were highly skilled and they found the presence of the midwives valuable in helping them to feel safe and confident during birth. Despite differences in organization and guidelines for home births, the women's experience of the midwife's professional skills did not differ between the four countries.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2014. Vol. 47, no 1, p. 100-107
Keywords [en]
home birth, midwife, mixed method, professional skills, women's experience
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-14567DOI: 10.1111/birt.12092ISI: 000333154100014PubMedID: 24654642Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84896509763Local ID: 18091OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-14567DiVA, id: diva2:1418088
Available from: 2020-03-30 Created: 2020-03-30 Last updated: 2024-09-15Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Planerade hemförlossningar i Norden: kvinnors och barnmorskors perspektiv
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Planerade hemförlossningar i Norden: kvinnors och barnmorskors perspektiv
2014 (Swedish)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Background: Home birth is common in an international perspective but in the West it is a rare occurrence. In the Nordic countries, Iceland and Denmark have the highest home birth rates with about two per cent, Norway and Sweden approximately one per thousand, and in Finland only a dozen women a year give birth to their children in the home. Background: Home birth is common in an international perspective but in the West it is a rare occurrence. In the Nordic countries, Iceland and Denmark have the highest home birth rates with about two per cent, Norway and Sweden approximately one per thousand, and in Finland only a dozen women a year give birth to their children in the home. Data collections and methods: Two interview studies (study I and V) and three questionnaire studies (study II, III and IV) were carried out. The interviews were analyzed with phenomenological-hermeneutical respectively phenomenological approach and the questionnaires with content analysis and descriptive statistical analysis, in study III as parts of the mixed method. Results: Women giving birth at home experience that they can give birth in their own terms with selected supporters around them in an environment where they feel safe (study I). They state that they are highly satisfied with their home birth midwives (study IV). The midwives described their work with assisting home birth as a lifestyle, with an opportunity to realize their full midwifery competence (study V). Women feel that they in a negative way are treated as irresponsible as they choose to give birth at home, and that this seems to strengthen their position to realize it (study II and III). Conclusion: The few women who choose to give home birth in Sweden are highly satisfied with their births experience. They have experienced that people around them, healthcare professionals as well as private individuals, were adverse to their choice and tried to make them change their minds. Women in the Nordic countries experienced that the midwife who assisted the home birth possessed good knowledge, medical as well as emotional and nurse care. Being a home birth midwife in the Nordic countries means to have chosen a lifestyle and a rewarding work, which allows her to use all her midwifery competencies to full extent.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö högskola, Hälsa och samhälle, 2014. p. 73
Series
Malmö University Health and Society Dissertations, ISSN 1653-5383 ; 7
Keywords
Planerad hemförlossning, Upplevelser, Hembarnmorska, Stöd, Miljö, Påverkan
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-7315 (URN)17690 (Local ID)9789171045997 (ISBN)9789171046000 (ISBN)17690 (Archive number)17690 (OAI)
Note

Note:The papers are not included in the fulltext online.

Paper V in dissertation as manuscript.

Available from: 2020-02-28 Created: 2020-02-28 Last updated: 2024-03-08Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(106 kB)379 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 106 kBChecksum SHA-512
f34308c4d12e9d1f1ea34e3f50ac9af3e07c414fcfd079e351df1dd1b5d1b1a71e6b45f296a73fe85579a41e4828e90beb23813a4b31b64b2b53add39da476d5
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Sjöblom, IngelaIdvall, Ewa

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Sjöblom, IngelaIdvall, Ewa
By organisation
Department of Health and Welfare Studies (HV)
In the same journal
Birth
Medical and Health Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 380 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 61 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf