Perceived Reality and Subjective Importance of Shared Decision-Making During Perinatal Care

Kuipers, Yvonne; Bosmans, Valerie; De Bock, Vanessa; Van de Craen, Natacha; Mestdagh, Eveline

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to explore perceived reality and subjective importance of shared decision-making (SDM) during antenatal, intrapartum, and/or postpartum care, provided by the midwife and/or obstetrician.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among women in Flanders, Belgium. SDM was measured with the Observing PatienT InvOlvemeNt scale. Tests examined the differences between perceived reality and subjective importance of SDM. A multivariate generalized linear model tested the main and interaction effects between SDM and the maternity care providers and the perinatal care periods. Bonferroni post hoc tests examined further significance.

Results: A total of 1,216 pregnant and postpartum participants completed 1,987 self-reports of perceived reality and subjective importance of SDM. The community midwives' SDM was evaluated 924/1,987 times, the hospital midwives' SDM 309/1,987 times, and the obstetricians' SDM 754/1,987 times. Perceived reality and subjective importance of SDM showed significant differences between care professionals (p < .001; p < .001), explained by the differences between community and hospital midwives' SDM (p < .001, d .85; p < .001; d .28) and between community midwives and obstetricians' SDM (p < .001, d .72; p < .001; d .31).

Conclusions: The findings indicate optimizing the decision-making process during perinatal care by aligning subjective importance and perceived reality of SDM throughout

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 29, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jun 7, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2025
• Journal: Research and Theory for Nursing Practice
• Print ISSN: 1541-6577
• Electronic ISSN: 1945-7286
• Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1891/rtnp-2024-0041
• Keywords: childbirth, maternity care, postpartum, pregnancy, shared decision-making