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A multidisciplinary evaluation, exploration, and advancement of the concept of a traumatic birth experience (2023)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., Thomson, G., Škodová, Z., Bozic, I., Lísa Sigurðardóttir, V., Goberna-Tricas, J., …Klier, C. (in press). A multidisciplinary evaluation, exploration, and advancement of the concept of a traumatic birth experience. Women and Birth, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2023.08.004

Background Understanding a woman’s traumatic birth experience benefits from an approach that considers perspectives from various fields of healthcare and social sciences. Aim To evaluate and explore the multidisciplinary perspectives surrounding... Read More about A multidisciplinary evaluation, exploration, and advancement of the concept of a traumatic birth experience.

Factors associated with the intention of pregnant women to give birth with epidural analgesia: a cross-sectional study (2023)
Journal Article
Van Leugenhaege, L., Degraeve, J., Jacquemyn, Y., Mestdagh, E., & Kuipers, Y. J. (2023). Factors associated with the intention of pregnant women to give birth with epidural analgesia: a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23(1), Article 598. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05887-w

Background In Belgium most women receive epidural analgesia during labour. Although, it offers satisfactory pain relief during labour, the risk on a series of adverse advents has been reported. The objective of this study was to determine factors a... Read More about Factors associated with the intention of pregnant women to give birth with epidural analgesia: a cross-sectional study.

Pregnancy-Related Anxiety and Associated Coping Styles and Strategies: A Cross-Sectional Study (2023)
Journal Article
Brosens, C., Van Gils, Y., Van Den Branden, L., Bleijenbergh, R., Rimaux, S., Mestdagh, E., & Kuipers, Y. J. (in press). Pregnancy-Related Anxiety and Associated Coping Styles and Strategies: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Childbirth, https://doi.org/10.1891/ijc-2022-0102

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-related anxiety is a distinct psychological construct during pregnancy, requiring adequate coping behavior. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was performed among 420 pregnant Dutch-speaking women in Belgium to establish the preva... Read More about Pregnancy-Related Anxiety and Associated Coping Styles and Strategies: A Cross-Sectional Study.

On cloud nine? Maternal emotional wellbeing six weeks up to one year postpartum – A cross-sectional study (2023)
Journal Article
Van den Branden, L., Van de Craen, N., Van Leugenhaege, L., Bleijenbergh, R., Mestdagh, E., Timmermans, O., …Kuipers, Y. J. (2023). On cloud nine? Maternal emotional wellbeing six weeks up to one year postpartum – A cross-sectional study. Sexual and Reproductive HealthCare, 36, Article 100856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2023.100856

Background: Little is known about the full scope of emotional wellbeing of mothers up to one year postpartum, to adequately support women during transition to motherhood. Reduced emotional wellbeing (REW) affects women’s adaption to the changes and c... Read More about On cloud nine? Maternal emotional wellbeing six weeks up to one year postpartum – A cross-sectional study.

Digital adaptability competency for healthcare professionals: a modified explorative e-Delphi study (2023)
Journal Article
Bleijenbergh, R., Mestdagh, E., Timmermans, O., Rompaey, B. V., & Kuipers, Y. J. (2023). Digital adaptability competency for healthcare professionals: a modified explorative e-Delphi study. Nurse Education in Practice, 67, Article 103563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103563

Aim: To establish items of the digital adaptability competency for healthcare professionals. Background: While the application and deployment of eHealth has continued at a rapid pace, healthcare professionals are expected to keep up and join the... Read More about Digital adaptability competency for healthcare professionals: a modified explorative e-Delphi study.

Emotional wellbeing of student midwives during COVID-19 (2022)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., & Mestdagh, E. (2023). Emotional wellbeing of student midwives during COVID-19. Women and Birth, 36(2), 184-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2022.11.012

Background Mental health of students in higher education was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim To examine the emotional wellbeing of midwifery students in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium) during COVID-19. Methods A cross-secti... Read More about Emotional wellbeing of student midwives during COVID-19.

How to evaluate the Scottish shortened midwifery programme – an exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Crozier, S., Kuipers, Y., McLuckie, C., & Norris, G. (2022, November). How to evaluate the Scottish shortened midwifery programme – an exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions. Paper presented at Scotland Maternity and Midwifery Festival, Edinburgh

The presentation will outline the development of a new shortened midwifery programme in Scotland, the stakeholder-led participatory approach to evaluation and the emerging themes of interest for the management and leadership of midwifery education an... Read More about How to evaluate the Scottish shortened midwifery programme – an exploration of stakeholders’ perceptions.

Students as researchers: an example of high-level participation of undergraduate midwifery students as co-investigators in research (2022)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., & Verschuren, S. (2023). Students as researchers: an example of high-level participation of undergraduate midwifery students as co-investigators in research. Women and Birth, 36(2), 171-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2022.11.004

Background There is a shift in focus of the curricula of undergraduate midwifery research-education - from research content to the research process, and the student from being an observer to a participant. Aim and Methods To explore an example o... Read More about Students as researchers: an example of high-level participation of undergraduate midwifery students as co-investigators in research.

Systematic Review of the Content Validity of Patient Reported Outcome Measures of Transition to Parenthood (2022)
Journal Article
Beeck, E. V., Van den Branden, L., Bramer, W. M., & Kuipers, Y. (2023). Systematic Review of the Content Validity of Patient Reported Outcome Measures of Transition to Parenthood. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 46(1), 57-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/01632787221127382

This review aims to identify self-report instruments examining aspects of transition to parenthood for use in practice and research. After performing a literature search in Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane, PsycINFO and Google Scholar, the P... Read More about Systematic Review of the Content Validity of Patient Reported Outcome Measures of Transition to Parenthood.

The validation of the brief COPE in a Belgian perinatal population (2022)
Journal Article
van Gils, Y., Bleijenbergh, R., Brosens, C., Van den Branden, L., Rimaux, S., & Kuipers, Y. J. (2022). The validation of the brief COPE in a Belgian perinatal population. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 26, 2050-2059. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03476-5

Introduction: The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Brief-COPE) measures individuals’ coping strategies. There is limited evidence on the psychometric properties of this measure in a perinatal population. The aim of this study is to... Read More about The validation of the brief COPE in a Belgian perinatal population.

Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of positive childbirth experiences: A discussion paper (2022)
Journal Article
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

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... Read More about Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of positive childbirth experiences: A discussion paper.

Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Kuipers, Y. (2022, May). Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Presented at Nordic Midwifery Congress (NJF), Helsinki

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to influence psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women. Methods: We conducted a non-concurrent cross-sectional study among 1145 women living in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, 541 pregnan... Read More about Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Kuipers, Y., & Mestdagh, E. (2022, May). Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Paper presented at NJF Congress 2022, Helsinki, Finland

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to influence psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women. Methods We conducted a non-concurrent cross-sectional study among 1145 women living in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, 541 pregnan... Read More about Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The social conception of space of birth narrated by women with negative and traumatic birth experiences (2022)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y. J., Thomson, G., Goberna-Tricas, J., Zurera, A., Hresanová, E., Temesgenová, N., …Leinweber, J. (2023). The social conception of space of birth narrated by women with negative and traumatic birth experiences. Women and Birth, 36(1), e78-e85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2022.04.013

Background Many women experience giving birth as a negative or even as a traumatic event. Birth space and its occupants are fundamentally interconnected with negative and traumatic experiences, highlighting the importance of the social space of bir... Read More about The social conception of space of birth narrated by women with negative and traumatic birth experiences.

Midwifery-led care: A single mixed-methods synthesis (2022)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y., Degraeve, J., Bosmans, V., Thaels, E., & Mestdagh, E. (2023). Midwifery-led care: A single mixed-methods synthesis. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 16(1), 35-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2022.2070824

Background: Midwifery Led Care (MLC) has shown to be beneficial for women and for midwives. The implementation of MLC remains challenging. Objective: To explore the utility of MLC and midwives' behavioural determinants. Methods: A systematic... Read More about Midwifery-led care: A single mixed-methods synthesis.

The intervening effect of the What Being the Parent of a New Baby is Like-Revised questionnaire on maternal affect (2022)
Journal Article
Van Beeck, E., Pridham, K. F., & Kuipers, Y. (2022). The intervening effect of the What Being the Parent of a New Baby is Like-Revised questionnaire on maternal affect. Research Ethics, 18(3), 250-262 . https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161221094929

The 'What Being the Parent of a New Baby is Like-Revised' (WPL-R) is an instrument designed to measure adaptation to parenthood. In the process of pilot testing and validating the WPL-R in a postpartum Dutch population, we became aware of the potenti... Read More about The intervening effect of the What Being the Parent of a New Baby is Like-Revised questionnaire on maternal affect.

Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)
Journal Article
Kuipers, Y. J., Bleijenbergh, R., Van den Branden, L., van Gils, Y., Rimaux, S., Brosens, C., …Mestdagh, E. (2022). Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. PLOS ONE, 17(4), Article e0267042. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267042

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to influence psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women. Methods: We conducted a non-concurrent cross-sectional study among 1145 women living in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, 541 pregnan... Read More about Psychological health of pregnant and postpartum women before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of traumatic childbirth experiences: A discussion paper (2022)
Journal Article
Leinweber, J., Fontein‐Kuipers, Y., Thomson, G., Karlsdottir, S. I., Nilsson, C., Ekström‐Bergström, A., …Stramrood, C. (2022). Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of traumatic childbirth experiences: A discussion paper. Birth, 49(4), 687-696. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12634

Introduction: Many women experience giving birth as traumatic. Although women's subjective experiences of trauma are considered the most important, currently there is no clear inclusive definition of a traumatic birth to help guide practice, educatio... Read More about Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of traumatic childbirth experiences: A discussion paper.

When your dream job can become a nightmare: reports of work-related traumatic events (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Kuipers, Y. (2022, March). When your dream job can become a nightmare: reports of work-related traumatic events. Paper presented at Vormingsdag VBOV, Antwerp, Belgium

INTRODUCTION There is limited evidence of the effect and impact on midwives of being involved or witnessing traumatic work-related events. We categorised midwives’ selfreported traumatic work-related events and responses to an event and explored the... Read More about When your dream job can become a nightmare: reports of work-related traumatic events.

Review of Mobile Apps for Women With Anxiety in Pregnancy: Maternity Care Professionals’ Guide to Locating and Assessing Anxiety Apps (2022)
Journal Article
Evans, K., Donelan, J., Rennick-Egglestone, S., Cox, S., & Kuipers, Y. (2022). Review of Mobile Apps for Women With Anxiety in Pregnancy: Maternity Care Professionals’ Guide to Locating and Assessing Anxiety Apps. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(3), Article e31831. https://doi.org/10.2196/31831

Background: Mental health and pregnancy apps are widely available and have the potential to improve health outcomes and enhance women’s experience of pregnancy. Women frequently access digital information throughout their pregnancy. However, health c... Read More about Review of Mobile Apps for Women With Anxiety in Pregnancy: Maternity Care Professionals’ Guide to Locating and Assessing Anxiety Apps.