Julia Leinweber
Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of positive childbirth experiences: A discussion paper
Leinweber, Julia; Fontein?Kuipers, Yvonne; Karlsdottir, Sigfridur Inga; Ekstr�m?Bergstr�m, Anette; Nilsson, Christina; Stramrood, Claire; Thomson, Gill
Authors
Prof Yvonne Kuipers Y.Kuipers@napier.ac.uk
Professor
Sigfridur Inga Karlsdottir
Anette Ekstr�m?Bergstr�m
Christina Nilsson
Claire Stramrood
Gill Thomson
Abstract
Introduction: A positive childbirth experience promotes women’s health, both during and beyond the perinatal period. Understanding what constitutes a positive childbirth experience is thus critical to providing high-quality maternity care. Currently, there is no clear, inclusive, woman-centered definition of a positive childbirth experience to guide practice, education, and research.
Aim: To formulate an inclusive woman-centered definition of a positive childbirth experience.
Methods: A six-step process was undertaken: (a) Key concepts associated with a positive childbirth were derived from a rapid literature review; (b) The key concepts were used by interdisciplinary experts in the author group to create a draft definition; (c) The draft definition was presented to clinicians and researchers during a European research meeting on perinatal mental health; (d) The authors integrated the expert feedback to refine the working definition; (e) A revised definition was shared with women from consumer groups in six countries to confirm its face validity; and (f) A final definition was formulated based on the women’s feedback (n = 42).
Results: The following definition was formulated: “A positive childbirth experience refers to a woman’s experience of interactions and events directly related to childbirth that made her feel supported, in control, safe, and respected; a positive childbirth can make women feel joy, confident, and/or accomplished and may have short and/or long-term positive impacts on a woman’s psychosocial well-being.”
Conclusions: This inclusive, woman-centered definition highlights the importance of provider interactions for facilitating a positive childbirth experience. Feeling supported and having a sense of control, safety, and respect are central tenets. This definition could help to identify and validate positive childbirth experience(s), and to inform practice, education, research, advocacy, and policy-making.
Citation
Leinweber, J., Fontein‐Kuipers, Y., Karlsdottir, S. I., Ekström‐Bergström, A., Nilsson, C., Stramrood, C., & Thomson, G. (2023). Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of positive childbirth experiences: A discussion paper. Birth, 50(2), 362-383. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12666
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jun 15, 2022 |
Online Publication Date | Jul 5, 2022 |
Publication Date | 2023-06 |
Deposit Date | Jul 5, 2022 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 28, 2024 |
Journal | Birth |
Print ISSN | 0730-7659 |
Electronic ISSN | 1523-536X |
Publisher | Wiley |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 50 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 362-383 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12666 |
Keywords | Childbirth experience, definition, positive childbirth, provider interactions, subjective, woman-centred |
Public URL | http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2884856 |
Files
Developing A Woman‐centered, Inclusive Definition Of Positive Childbirth Experiences: A Discussion Paper
(1.2 Mb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Related Outputs
You might also like
Emotional wellbeing of student midwives during COVID-19
(2022)
Journal Article
How to evaluate the Scottish shortened midwifery programme – an exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions
(2022)
Presentation / Conference
Downloadable Citations
About Edinburgh Napier Research Repository
Administrator e-mail: repository@napier.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search