| 1. |
- Hadjigeorgiou, Eleni, et al.
(författare)
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Women's Perceptions of Their Right to Choose the Place of Childbirth : A Qualitative Study
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Childbirth. - : Springer Publishing Company. - 2156-5287 .- 2156-5295. ; 2:4, s. 230-240
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To explore Greek Cypriot women's perceptions of their right to choose the place of childbirth.DESIGN: This study is qualitative and is based on Husserl's phenomenological approach. The field work extended over a 6-month period in 2010–2011.SETTING: In all cities of the Republic of Cyprus.PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sample of 55 women within 1 year after birth. Forty-eight women were recruited for semistructured interviews and six of them took place in first focus group. The second group consisted of seven women that did not participate in interviews.RESULTS: Women's perceptions were categorized into four themes: (a) informed choice for birth place, (b) trusting relationship with health professionals, (c) medicalization of childbirth, and (d) safety of the mother and baby.CONCLUSIONS: There is no equity and accessibility in Cyprus maternity care system because it does not provide correct information and accessibility to all birthplace choices. This study demonstrated the need to explore women's views before formulating policy for maternity care. These views will be helpful for the creation of an innovative evidence-based maternity care policy, taking into account women's needs, and will be helpful to raise awareness among health professionals for maternity care improvement.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Ensuring the right for birthplace choices is a social and political necessity that enhances the existing health care systems and health professionals to provide quality and holistic maternity care. Conducting more studies on maternity care in Cyprus will reinforce the aim for improving the health of the women, neonates, and society.
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| 2. |
- Hadjigeorgiou, Eleni, et al.
(författare)
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Women's perceptions of their right to choose the place of childbirth : an integrative review
- 2012
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Ingår i: Midwifery. - : Elsevier. - 0266-6138 .- 1532-3099. ; 28:3, s. 380-390
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: to provide a critical synthesis of published research concerning women's experiences in choosing where to give birth.Method: an integrative literature review was conducted using three databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL and Ovid) for 1997–2009. Inclusion criteria were: (1) publication in the English language; (2) research article; (3) focus on women's perceptions for their birthplace choices; and (4) data collected during pregnancy, at birth and post partum.Findings: twenty-one research-based papers met the inclusion criteria, and these used a range of approaches and methods. Four themes were derived from the data: choice of birthplace and medicalisation of childbirth; the midwifery model of care and the rhetoric of birthplace choices; perceptions of safety shaped women's preferences; and choice is related to women's autonomy.Conclusion: there is considerable evidence that women worldwide wish to be able to exercise their rights and make informed choices about where to give birth. The medical model remains a strong and powerful influence on women's decisions in many countries. The midwifery model offers birthplace choices to women, while policies and culture in some countries affect midwifery practise. Perceptions of safety shaped women's preferences, and women's autonomy facilitated birthplace choices.Implications for practise: these findings can be seen as a challenge for health professionals and policy makers to improve perinatal care based on women's needs. Local research is advisable due to cultural and health system differences.
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| 3. |
- Leinweber, Julia, et al.
(författare)
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Developing a woman-centered, inclusive definition of traumatic childbirth experiences : A discussion paper.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Birth. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0730-7659 .- 1523-536X. ; 49:4, s. 585-842
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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, education, and research.AIM: To formulate a woman-centered, inclusive definition of a traumatic childbirth experience.METHODS: After a rapid literature review, a five-step process was undertaken. First, a draft definition was created based on interdisciplinary experts' views. The definition was then discussed and reformulated with input from over 60 multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers during a perinatal mental health and birth trauma research meeting in Europe. A revised definition was then shared with consumer groups in eight countries to confirm its face validity and adjusted based on their feedback.RESULTS: The stepwise process confirmed that a woman-centered and inclusive definition was important. The final definition was: "A traumatic childbirth experience refers to a woman's experience of interactions and/or events directly related to childbirth that caused overwhelming distressing emotions and reactions; leading to short and/ or long-term negative impacts on a woman's health and wellbeing."CONCLUSIONS: This definition of a traumatic childbirth experience was developed through consultations with experts and consumer groups. The definition acknowledges that low-quality provider interactions and obstetric violence can traumatize individuals during childbirth. The women-centered and inclusive focus could help women to identify and validate their experiences of traumatic birth, offering benefits for practice, education, and research, as well as for policymaking and activism in the fields of perinatal mental health and respectful maternity care.
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| 4. |
- Olza, Ibone, et al.
(författare)
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Birth as a neuro-psycho-social event : An integrative model of maternal experiences and their relation to neurohormonal events during childbirth
- 2020
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - San Francisco, California, USA : PLOS. - 1932-6203. ; 15:7, s. 1-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Psychological aspects of labor and birth have received little attention within maternity care service planning or clinical practice. The aim of this paper is to propose a model demonstrating how neurohormonal processes, in particular oxytocinergic mechanisms, not only control the physiological aspects of labor and birth, but also contribute to the subjective psychological experiences of birth. In addition, sensory information from the uterus as well as the external environment might influence these neurohormonal processes thereby influencing the progress of labor and the experience of birth.METHODOLOGY: In this new model of childbirth, we integrated the findings from two previous systematic reviews, one on maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth and one meta-synthesis of women´s subjective experiences of physiological childbirth.FINDINGS: The neurobiological processes induced by the release of endogenous oxytocin during birth influence maternal behaviour and feelings in connection with birth in order to facilitate birth. The psychological experiences during birth may promote an optimal transition to motherhood. The spontaneous altered state of consciousness, that some women experience, may well be a hallmark of physiological childbirth in humans. The data also highlights the crucial role of one-to-one support during labor and birth. The physiological importance of social support to reduce labor stress and pain necessitates a reconsideration of many aspects of modern maternity care.CONCLUSION: By listening to women's experiences and by observing women during childbirth, factors that contribute to an optimized process of labor, such as the mothers' wellbeing and feelings of safety, may be identified. These observations support the integrative role of endogenous oxytocin in coordinating the neuroendocrine, psychological and physiological aspects of labor and birth, including oxytocin mediated. decrease of pain, fear and stress, support the need for midwifery one-to-one support in labour as well as the need for maternity care that optimizes the function of these neuroendocrine processes even when birth interventions are used. Women and their partners would benefit from understanding the crucial role that endogenous oxytocin plays in the psychological and neuroendocrinological process of labor.
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| 5. |
- Uvnäs-Moberg, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth : a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin
- 2019
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Ingår i: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2393. ; 19:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Oxytocin is a key hormone in childbirth, and synthetic oxytocin is widely administered to induce or speed labour. Due to lack of synthetized knowledge, we conducted a systematic review of maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth, and in response to infusions of synthetic oxytocin, if reported in the included studies.METHODS: An a priori protocol was designed and a systematic search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO in October 2015. Search hits were screened on title and abstract after duplicates were removed (n = 4039), 69 articles were examined in full-text and 20 papers met inclusion criteria. As the articles differed in design and methodology used for analysis of oxytocin levels, a narrative synthesis was created and the material was categorised according to effects.RESULTS: Basal levels of oxytocin increased 3-4-fold during pregnancy. Pulses of oxytocin occurred with increasing frequency, duration, and amplitude, from late pregnancy through labour, reaching a maximum of 3 pulses/10 min towards the end of labour. There was a maximal 3- to 4-fold rise in oxytocin at birth. Oxytocin pulses also occurred in the third stage of labour associated with placental expulsion. Oxytocin peaks during labour did not correlate in time with individual uterine contractions, suggesting additional mechanisms in the control of contractions. Oxytocin levels were also raised in the cerebrospinal fluid during labour, indicating that oxytocin is released into the brain, as well as into the circulation. Oxytocin released into the brain induces beneficial adaptive effects during birth and postpartum. Oxytocin levels following infusion of synthetic oxytocin up to 10 mU/min were similar to oxytocin levels in physiological labour. Oxytocin levels doubled in response to doubling of the rate of infusion of synthetic oxytocin.CONCLUSIONS: Plasma oxytocin levels increase gradually during pregnancy, and during the first and second stages of labour, with increasing size and frequency of pulses of oxytocin. A large pulse of oxytocin occurs with birth. Oxytocin in the circulation stimulates uterine contractions and oxytocin released within the brain influences maternal physiology and behaviour during birth. Oxytocin given as an infusion does not cross into the mother's brain because of the blood brain barrier and does not influence brain function in the same way as oxytocin during normal labour does.
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