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Being a homebirth midwife in the Nordic countries: a phenomenological study
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Health and Society (HS).
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Health and Society (HS).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9300-6422
2015 (English)In: Sexual & Reproductive HealthCare, ISSN 1877-5756, E-ISSN 1877-5764, Vol. 6, p. 126-131Article in journal (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Objective: To describe the lived experience of being a home birth midwife in the Nordic countries. Method: Interviews conducted with 21 home birth midwives from the five Nordic countries were analyzed with a phenomenological approach. Results: The essential structure of being a home birth midwife in the Nordic countries can be understood as realizing altruistic values and fulfilling one's own desires for working life, by facilitating the desires of the women giving birth. By being "active-passive" - using all her senses and letting her intuition lead her - the midwife supports women during labor and birth. Medical skills, evidence-based knowledge and experience are important for providing the optimal care in each situation. Further this becomes the midwife's chosen lifestyle, which alters her own self, making her available to assist the mother-to-be in fulfilling her wishes for a good birth. Finally, being able to use one's own full potential during a homebirth is experienced as the ideal way of working as a midwife, practicing the art of midwifery. Conclusion: The experience of being a home birth midwife in the Nordic countries includes making an adaption to a lifestyle that is considered the basis for a satisfactory and rewarding way of working. A sense of fulfillment is achieved through experiencing the possibility to work according to one's own ideals concerning the art of midwifery. The beliefs about the women's ability to give birth and understanding the importance of a positive birth for both the mother and the newborn baby are essential.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2015. Vol. 6, p. 126-131
Keywords [en]
Midwives, home birth, relationship, art of midwifery, altruism
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-14599DOI: 10.1016/j.srhc.2015.02.004ISI: 000361580000003PubMedID: 26842634Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84941259479Local ID: 19982OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-14599DiVA, id: diva2:1418120
Available from: 2020-03-30 Created: 2020-03-30 Last updated: 2024-02-05Bibliographically 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

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Sjöblom, IngelaIdvall, Ewa

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