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Giving birth: Expectations of first time mothers in Switzerland at the mid point of pregnancy

Fleming, V, Meyer, Y, Frank, F, van Gogh, S, Schirinzi, L, Michoud, B and de labrusse, C (2017) Giving birth: Expectations of first time mothers in Switzerland at the mid point of pregnancy. Women and Birth, 30 (6). pp. 443-449. ISSN 1871-5192

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Abstract

Problem and background: Despite a generally affluent society, the caesarean section rate in Switzerland has steadily climbed in recent years from 22.9% in 1998 to 33.7% in 2014. Speculation by the media has prompted political questions as to the reasons. However, there is no clear evidence as to why the Swiss rate should be so high especially in comparison with neighbouring countries.
Aim: To describe the emerging expectations of giving birth of healthy primigravid women in the early second semester of pregnancy in four Swiss cantons.
Methods: Qualitative individual interviews with 58 healthy primigravid women, were audio recorded, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Recruitment took place through public and private hospitals, birth centres, obstetricians and independent midwives. The main ethical issues were informed consent, autonomy, confidentiality and anonymity.
Findings: The three main themes identified were taking or avoiding decisions, experiencing a continuum of emotions and planning the care.
Discussion: Being pregnant was part of a project women had mapped out for their lives. Only three women in our sample expressed a wish for a caesarean section. One of the strongest emotions was that of fear but in contrast some participants expressed faith that their bodies would cope with the experience.
Conclusion: Bringing together the three languages and cultures produced a truly “Swiss” study showing contrasts between a matter of fact approach to pregnancy and the concept of fear. Such a contrast is worthy of further and deeper exploration by a multi-disciplinary research team.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: 11 Medical And Health Sciences
Subjects: R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Divisions: Nursing & Allied Health
Publisher: Elsevier
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 13 Nov 2018 11:50
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 10:04
DOI or ID number: 10.1016/j.wombi.2017.04.002
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9375
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