Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 1;30(3):159-167.
doi: 10.1891/J-PE-D-20-00061.

Coping With the Unexpected in Childbirth: A Thematic Analysis

Katherine Hinic

Coping With the Unexpected in Childbirth: A Thematic Analysis

Katherine Hinic. J Perinat Educ. .

Abstract

This article reports original research that describes new mothers' experiences of birth and maternity care. Qualitative data were collected through a survey on birth satisfaction, which included space for women to provide comments about their birth and experience of care. Thirty-nine women provided comments that were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Two themes emerged from the women's experiences: "Unexpected birth processes: expectations and reality" and "Coping with birth: the role of health-care staff." Participants described unexpected birthing processes, their experiences of care, and maternity care staff's contributions to coping with birth. Implications for practice for childbirth professionals include promotion of physiologic birth, respectful person-centered care during all phases of perinatal care, and the value of childbirth preparation.

Keywords: birth satisfaction; childbirth; parturition; patient experience; prenatal education (MeSH terms).

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. American College of Nurse-Midwives, Midwives Alliance of North America, & National Association of Certified Professional Midwives. (2013). Supporting healthy and normal physiologic childbirth: A consensus statement by the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Midwives Alliance of North America, and the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 57(5), 529–532. 10.1111/j.1542-2011.2012.00218.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2013). Definition of term pregnancy. Committee opinion No. 579. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 122, 1139–1140. - PubMed
    1. Avery, M. D., Bell, A. D., Bingham, D., Corry, M. P., Delbanco, S. F., Gullo, S. L., Ivory, C. H., Jennings, J. C., Powell, K., Kennedy, H., Kozhimannil, K. B., Leeman, L., Lothian, J. A., Miller, H. D., Ogburn, T., Romano, A., Sakala, C., & Shah, N. T. (2018). Blueprint for advancing high-value maternity care through physiologic childbearing. The Journal of Perinatal Education, 27(3), 130–134. 10.1891/1058-1243.27.3.130 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Avery, M. D., Neerland, C. E., & Saftner, M. A. (2019). Women's perceptions of prenatal influences on maternal confidence for physiologic birth. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 64(2), 201–208. 10.1111/jmwh.12897 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ayers, S., Bond, R., Bertullies, S., & Wijma, K. (2016). The aetiology of posttraumatic stress following childbirth: A meta-analysis and theoretical framework. Psychological Medicine, 46, 1121–1134. 10.1017/S0033291715002706 - DOI - PubMed