Midwives’ experiences of doula support for immigrant women in Sweden—A qualitative study

How Birth Doulas Help Clients Adapt to Changes in Circumstances, Clinical Care, and Client Preferences During Labor

“…Giving nonjudgmental support, assisting with informed decision making, and acting as a facilitator are cornerstones of doula care and strongly express the shared values of doulas. These themes and values are also found in other studies emanating from various physical and attitudinal environments (Akhavan & Lundgren, 2012;Gilliland, 2002Gilliland, , 2011Koumouitzes-Douvia & Carr, 2006;Stevens et al, 2011).…”

“…The doula's role is informative and supportive, ensuring the client is given the opportunity to make decisions while empowering clients in their choices (Ballen & Fulcher, 2006;Gilliland, 2002). Our theme of nonjudgmental support is echoed in the literature, showing that supporting clients in a nonjudgmental way and by maintaining a continuous presence, mothers feel more positive about their choices and their birth (Akhavan & Lundgren, 2012;Gilliland, 2011;Koumouitzes-Douvia & Carr, 2006).…”

The processes of implementing and sustaining an intensive volunteer one-to-one support (doula) service for disadvantaged pregnant women

“…This reflects the concerns of health professionals in other contexts who have feared that their authority would be undermined by volunteers and have sometimes been obstructive 'gatekeepers' to volunteers' services (McInnes and Stone, 2001;Curtis et al, 2007;Dykes, 2005;Murphy, 2008). It was encouraging that the experience of these doula projects was that over time, these concerns were overcome by midwives' positive experiences of working alongside volunteer doulas and in particular their confidence that the doulas understood the boundaries of their role; this process was assisted by the doula projects inviting midwives to have input into the doula training (Akhavan and Lundgren, 2012). This suggests that conflicts between health professionals and volunteers are not inevitable where there is absolute role clarity and trust, and that contrary to some studies in other countries' maternity contexts (Stevens 2011;Steel et al 2015), doulas from outside the healthcare system can be accepted by maternity professionals when they are confident the doulas will not challenge their clinical authority.…”

Refugee and Asylum Seekers’ Health Problems: The Nursing Approach

“…This same study emphasized that language differences adversely affect the quality of care, and for this reason it is necessary to get help from a professional interpreter (Kelaher & Manderson, 2000). Thus interpreters are referred in health care in many countries (Akhavan & Lundgren, 2012) in order to avoid the negative results of language differences in health care (Leininger & McFarland, 2002).…”

“…Aynı çalışmada dil farklılığının sağlık hizmet kalitesini olumsuz etkilediği ve bu nedenle profesyonel bir tercümandan yardım alınmasının gerekli olduğu vurgulanmaktadır (Kelaher & Manderson, 2000). Bu nedenle sağlık bakımında dil farklılığının olumsuz sonuçlara neden olmaması (Leininger & McFarland, 2002) için sağlık hizmetlerinde pek çok ülkede tercümana başvurulmaktadır (Akhavan & Lundgren, 2012).…”