2022, Volume 15, Issue 4, pp 539 – 546

The effect of backup midwife on maternal experience after vaginal childbirth – a qualitative study

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding Author: Sepideh Hajian, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: s.hajian@sbmu.ac.ir

Abstract

One of the goals of reproductive health enhancement is to ensure the desired experience of safe childbirth by reducing possible complications, fears, and worries about delivery by ongoing midwife backup care. This study explains women’s experiences with a backup midwife during labor and childbirth. This was a qualitative study involving 19 women who had natural childbirth in Hamadan, 2020. Purposeful sampling and data collection were performed using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed by conventional content analysis using MAXQDA software version 10. Data analysis showed three themes and six main categories. The themes included security, high-quality care, and respectful care, consisting of two main categories of perceived empowerment and support, physiological approach and reassuring care, and respect for the mother’s privacy and optimal accountability. The presence of a backup midwife during labor caused a sense of security, control, and perceived empowerment, thus a positive childbirth experience. Therefore, it is necessary to train and employ midwifery in the healthcare system. It is recommended to train and employ midwifery graduates for this purpose and include it as one of the basic principles in the current planning to promote natural childbirth.

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About this article

PMC ID: 9126467
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0072

Article Publishing Date (print): 4 2022
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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