Antenatal 'booking' interviews at midwifery clinics in Sweden: a qualitative analysis of five video-recorded interviews

Abstract

Objective: To describe antenatal 'booking' interviews as regards content and illuminate the meaning of the ways midwives and expectant parents relate to each other.

Design: Content analysis and phenomenological hermeneutic analysis of transcribed texts from five video-recorded antenatal booking interviews.

Setting: Midwifery clinics at five health centres in the context of Swedish primary care.

Participants: Five midwives, five pregnant women (less than 14 weeks pregnant) and two expectant fathers.

Findings: A variety of content themes and ways of relating were found. Combined themes of biomedical and obstetric content occurred as frequently as the sum of social, emotional, antenatal care and life-style themes. The midwives' ways of relating formed two main themes; considering and disregarding the uniqueness of the expectant parents. The midwives directed the interview through their choice of content themes and the way they related to the expectant parents. The expectant parents mainly shadowed the midwives' content themes and ways of relating. The expectant fathers seemed like strange visitors in the women's world. Two perspectives of antenatal midwifery care, obstetric and parental, operated alternately and in competition within the interviews.

Key conclusions: The content and the ways of relating within the interviews seem to be connected and could be understood in the light of Buber's writings on dialogue.

Implications for practice: The findings provide a basis for reflection on the education of midwives and the planning, training and implementation of midwifery care at antenatal 'booking' interviews.