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The purpose of the authors in this paper is to investigate the effects of negative experiences during delivery and postpartum period on the relationship between the mother. The quantitative part of this study was conducted with 289 mothers and the qualitative part with 40 mothers. It was found that experiencing upsetting problems during delivery (p = 0.006) and in the postpartum period (p = 0.002) had an effect on separation anxiety. Based on the examination of the feelings experienced during annoying or distressing situations in the postpartum period, it was determined that there was a significant correlation between guilt (p = 0.000), fear of not being a good mother (p = 0.035), and feeling weak (p = 0.001) and separation anxiety. Blues of birth is fear and anxiety that the baby will be harmed if the mother is separated from it, and it is attributed to negative experiences during delivery and the postpartum period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the perceptions and experiences of childbirth among a group of wealthier women in Dhaka through in-depth interviews. We find that a number of factors including preference for Caesarean Section (CS), socio-economic position, family structure, and perceptions of modern childbirth contributed to the women's overuse of medical childbirth services. Furthermore, women's capacity to purchase modern maternal health care in the private sector did not necessarily ensure high quality care in a health system which approaches maternal healthcare as a profit-making enterprise rather than as an essential human right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supportive care is a key component of person-centered maternity care (PCMC), and includes aspects such as timely and attentive care, pain control, and the health facility environment. Yet, few researchers have explored the degree of supportive care delivered or providers' perceptions on supportive care practices during childbirth. The researchers' aim is to evaluate the extent of supportive care provided to women during childbirth and to identify the drivers behind the lack of supportive care from the perspective of maternity providers in a rural county in Western Kenya. Data are from a mixed-methods study in Migori County in Western Kenya with 49 maternity providers (32 clinical and 17 non-clinical). Providers were asked structured questions on various aspects of supportive care followed by open ended questions on why certain practices were performed or not. We conducted descriptive analysis of the quantitative data and thematic analysis of the qualitative data. We analyzed data and found inconsistent and suboptimal practices with regards to supportive care. Some providers reported long patient wait times in their facilities as well as the inability to provide the best care due to staff shortages in their facilities. Others also reported low interest and inquiry about women's experience of pain during childbirth, which was driven by perceptions of pain during childbirth as normal, facility culture and norms, and lack of pain medicine. For the facility environment, providers reported relatively clean facilities. They, however, noted inconsistent water and electricity as well as inadequate safety. We conclude that many drivers of the lack of supportive care are caused by structural health systems issues, therefore a health system strengthening approach can be useful for improving the supportive care dimension of PCMC, and thus quality of care overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing care to women following stillbirth affects the well-being of midwifery staff. In this grounded theory study, the authors used focus groups and individual interviews to explore the experiences of midwifery students at a faith-based university in Papua New Guinea. Balancing it Out is the process students used to balance social, cultural and professional factors to achieve their aim of providing the best possible care to women following stillbirth. Provision of holistic care to women following stillbirth and cross-sector health promotion are crucial to attain the best outcomes for women and the midwifery staff who provide their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the authors examined how maternal health workers (MHWs) perceive the health risks of extreme heat exposure to pregnant women and fetuses. The authors conducted interviews with 12 MHWs (including midwives and doulas) in El Paso, Texas. Using qualitative analysis, the researchers identified numerous themes. Although heat was not communicated as a major health risk, participants expressed some concern with growing heat exposure and communicated standard protective measures. While all participants were familiar with some heat illness symptoms, they were generally unaware of their clients' vulnerability. MHWs' minimal heat-risk knowledge leaves pregnant women and developing fetuses at risk of preventable harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First Nations women who live on rural and remote reserves in Canada leave their communities between 36 and 38 weeks gestational age to receive labor and birthing services in large urban centers. The process and administrative details of this process are undocumented despite decades of relocation as a routine component of maternity care. Using data from 32 semistructured interviews and information from peer-reviewed literature, grey literature, and public documents, I constructed a descriptive map and a visual representation of the policy. I present new and detailed information about Canada's health policy as well as recommendations to address the health care gaps identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A difficult birth experience can have long lasting psychological effects on both mother and baby and this study details four in-depth accounts of first time mothers who described their birth experience as traumatizing. Narrative analysis was used to record discrepancies between the ideal and the real and produced narrative accounts that highlighted how these mothers felt invisible and dismissed in a medical culture of engineering obstetrics. Participants also detailed how their birth experience could be improved and this is set in context alongside current recommendations in maternal health care and the complexities of delivering such care in UK health settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision is a global health issue with increasing international migration of affected women and girls to countries unfamiliar with the practice. Western health care providers are unfamiliar with FGM, and managing obstetric care presents challenges to midwives who are in the forefront of care provision for the women. The participants in this Heideggerian qualitative interpretive study elucidated the strategies they used in overcoming the particular physical, emotional, and gynecological health issues with which mutilated women present. Ongoing emphases on women-centered, culturally competent maternity care are germane to optimal maternity care of circumcised women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study our aim was to explore the experiences of doula support among foreign-born women in Sweden in the context of a “Community-Based Doula” (CBD) intervention project. We conducted interviews with 10 women and analyzed the data using content analysis. Participating women reported that, in addition to support during labor, doulas provided important information and continuity of care, which apparently increased their satisfaction with and trust in maternity health care. Training of CBDs, therefore, has implications for the delivery of equitable maternity care, which applies not only to Sweden and other European countries but wherever there are increasingly diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Russia provides an interesting case for comparative research of maternity care due to the rapid social change and steep fertility decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I analyze out-patient maternity care in public sector women's clinics in St. Petersburg on the basis of qualitative observation and interview data. Gynecologists' role in monitoring pregnancy is central, resulting in an emphasis on medical expertise and risk management. Ideally, gynecologists see themselves as medical experts and maternal caretakers, but the latter role seldom materializes in practice. Gynecologists' ideas of pregnancy planning demonstrate a wish for further medicalization of maternity care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]