{"title":"“Where’s my baby?” A feminist phenomenological study of women experiencing preventable separation from their baby at caesarean birth","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.wombi.2024.101828","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Problem</h3><div>Separating women and babies immediately after birth contributes to poor birth experience and reduced satisfaction.</div></div><div><h3>Background</h3><div>A negative birth experience can impact a woman’s transition to motherhood and emotional well-being beyond the newborn period. Separating women from their baby at birth is known to reduce birth satisfaction and is more likely to happen at caesarean section births.</div></div><div><h3>Question</h3><div>What is the experience of women who are separated from their baby after caesarean section birth without medical necessity?</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Unstructured, in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted with fifteen women who had been separated from their well-baby at caesarean section birth. Data was analysed using a Modified van Kaam approach. A novel feminist phenomenological framework with two birthing theories was used to explore the experience of the participants.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>Four major themes emerged – Disconnection, Emotional Turmoil, Influence, and Insight. These demonstrated significant trauma that both the separation and perinatal care created.</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>The participants recognised their vulnerability and the lack of power and control they had over themselves and their baby, which was seemingly not acknowledged. Provider and hospital needs were valued above those of the women.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Woman-centred care was not evident in the treatment of these women despite the attendance of a midwife at each birth. This research challenges midwives and other health care providers to support and advocate for those birthing by caesarean section to return power and control and support them to remain in close physical contact with their baby immediately after birth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48868,"journal":{"name":"Women and Birth","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Women and Birth","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871519224002889","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Problem
Separating women and babies immediately after birth contributes to poor birth experience and reduced satisfaction.
Background
A negative birth experience can impact a woman’s transition to motherhood and emotional well-being beyond the newborn period. Separating women from their baby at birth is known to reduce birth satisfaction and is more likely to happen at caesarean section births.
Question
What is the experience of women who are separated from their baby after caesarean section birth without medical necessity?
Methods
Unstructured, in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted with fifteen women who had been separated from their well-baby at caesarean section birth. Data was analysed using a Modified van Kaam approach. A novel feminist phenomenological framework with two birthing theories was used to explore the experience of the participants.
Findings
Four major themes emerged – Disconnection, Emotional Turmoil, Influence, and Insight. These demonstrated significant trauma that both the separation and perinatal care created.
Discussion
The participants recognised their vulnerability and the lack of power and control they had over themselves and their baby, which was seemingly not acknowledged. Provider and hospital needs were valued above those of the women.
Conclusion
Woman-centred care was not evident in the treatment of these women despite the attendance of a midwife at each birth. This research challenges midwives and other health care providers to support and advocate for those birthing by caesarean section to return power and control and support them to remain in close physical contact with their baby immediately after birth.
期刊介绍:
Women and Birth is the official journal of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM). It is a midwifery journal that publishes on all matters that affect women and birth, from pre-conceptual counselling, through pregnancy, birth, and the first six weeks postnatal. All papers accepted will draw from and contribute to the relevant contemporary research, policy and/or theoretical literature. We seek research papers, quality assurances papers (with ethical approval) discussion papers, clinical practice papers, case studies and original literature reviews.
Our women-centred focus is inclusive of the family, fetus and newborn, both well and sick, and covers both healthy and complex pregnancies and births. The journal seeks papers that take a woman-centred focus on maternity services, epidemiology, primary health care, reproductive psycho/physiology, midwifery practice, theory, research, education, management and leadership. We also seek relevant papers on maternal mental health and neonatal well-being, natural and complementary therapies, local, national and international policy, management, politics, economics and societal and cultural issues as they affect childbearing women and their families. Topics may include, where appropriate, neonatal care, child and family health, women’s health, related to pregnancy, birth and the postpartum, including lactation. Interprofessional papers relevant to midwifery are welcome. Articles are double blind peer-reviewed, primarily by experts in the field of the submitted work.