TY - JOUR

T1 - Women and partners' experiences of critical perinatal events

T2 - a qualitative study

AU - Navne, Laura Emdal

AU - Høgh, Stinne

AU - Johansen, Marianne

AU - Svendsen, Mette Nordahl

AU - Sorensen, Jette Led

N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2020/9/17

Y1 - 2020/9/17

N2 - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore women and partners' experiences following critical perinatal events.DESIGN: This is a qualitative interview study. We conducted semistructured individual interviews with women and their partners in separate rooms. Interviews were analysed thematically and validated by a transdisciplinary group of anthropologists, obstetricians and a midwife.SETTING: Department of obstetrics at a tertiary referral university hospital in Denmark.PARTICIPANTS: Women and partners who had experienced a critical perinatal event within the past 3-12 months.RESULTS: We conducted 17 interviews and identified three main themes: (1) ambivalence towards medicalisation, (2) the extended temporality of a critical birth and (3) postnatal loss of attention from healthcare professionals. Overall, participants expressed a high degree of trust in and quality of provided healthcare during the critical perinatal events. They experienced medicalisation (obstetric interventions) as a necessity, linking them to the safety of the child and their new role as responsible parents. However, some women experienced disempowerment when healthcare professionals overlooked their ability to stay actively involved during birth events. Postnatally, women and their partners experienced shortages of healthcare professional resources, absent healthcare and lack of attention.CONCLUSIONS: Women and their partners' experiences of critical perinatal events begin long before and end long after the actual moment of childbirth, challenging conventional ideas about the birth as being the pivotal event in making families. In future healthcare planning, it is important to to align expectations and guide parental involvement in birth events and to acknowledge the postnatal period as equally crucial.

AB - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore women and partners' experiences following critical perinatal events.DESIGN: This is a qualitative interview study. We conducted semistructured individual interviews with women and their partners in separate rooms. Interviews were analysed thematically and validated by a transdisciplinary group of anthropologists, obstetricians and a midwife.SETTING: Department of obstetrics at a tertiary referral university hospital in Denmark.PARTICIPANTS: Women and partners who had experienced a critical perinatal event within the past 3-12 months.RESULTS: We conducted 17 interviews and identified three main themes: (1) ambivalence towards medicalisation, (2) the extended temporality of a critical birth and (3) postnatal loss of attention from healthcare professionals. Overall, participants expressed a high degree of trust in and quality of provided healthcare during the critical perinatal events. They experienced medicalisation (obstetric interventions) as a necessity, linking them to the safety of the child and their new role as responsible parents. However, some women experienced disempowerment when healthcare professionals overlooked their ability to stay actively involved during birth events. Postnatally, women and their partners experienced shortages of healthcare professional resources, absent healthcare and lack of attention.CONCLUSIONS: Women and their partners' experiences of critical perinatal events begin long before and end long after the actual moment of childbirth, challenging conventional ideas about the birth as being the pivotal event in making families. In future healthcare planning, it is important to to align expectations and guide parental involvement in birth events and to acknowledge the postnatal period as equally crucial.

U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037932

DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037932

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

SP - e037932

JO - BMJ Paediatrics Open

JF - BMJ Paediatrics Open

SN - 2044-6055

IS - 9

ER -