Mothers’ experiences of labour in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe experiences of mothers during childbirth in a tertiary hospital in the Limpopo Province. This was achieved through a qualitative research study which was exploratory, descriptive, contextual and inductive in nature. A sample of 24 mothers participated in this study. Data obtained from unstructured in-depth interviews were analysed according to the protocol by Tesch (1990, cited in Cresswell, 1994:155). Five themes were identified, namely mutual participation and responsibility sharing, dependency and decision-making; information sharing and empowering autonomy and informed choices; open communication and listening; accommodative/non-accommodative midwifery actions; and maximising human and material infrastructure. The themes indicated experiences that foster or promote dependency on midwifery care. Guidelines on how to transform this dependency into a mother-centered care approach during childbirth are provided.
 
 Opsomming
 Die doel van die studie was om moeders se belewenis van kindergeboorte in ’n tersiêre hospitaal in die Limpopo Provinsie te verken en te beskryf. Dit is gedoen deur middel van kwalitatiewe navorsing wat verkennend, beskrywend, en kontekstueel was. ‘n Steekproef van 24 moeders het aan die studie deelgeneem. Inligting is verkry deur middel van ongestruktureerde in-diepte onderhoude. Hierdie inligting is geanaliseer aan die hand van Tesch (1990: aangehaal in Creswell, 1994:155) se protokol. Die volgende kategorieë is geïdentifiseer, wedersydse deelname en gedeelde verantwoordelik- hede, afhanklikheid en besluitneming, deel van inligting, bemagtiging tot outonomie en ingeligte keuse, oop kommunikasie en luister, akkommoderende/nie-akkommoderende vroedvrou-aksies en bevordering van menslike en materiële infrastrukture. Die resultate van die onderhoude het belewenisse blootgelê wat dui op die bevordering van afhanklikheid in vroedvrouversorging. Riglyne om hierdie afhanklikheid te verander in ‘n moedergesentreerde benadering word verskaf.

Respectful care during childbirth in health facilities globally: a qualitative evidence synthesis

“…Women preferred healthcare providers that had kind attitudes, spent time with women, and were calm, tactful, warm, smiling, and caring . Women described their expectation to be treated as a person and not as ‘processed things’ . To be seen as an individual – with differences and peculiarities – was expressed by women and healthcare providers as being met with respect …”

Woman-centred care in childbirth: A concept analysis (Part 1)

“…A study 'Experiences of childbirth by mothers at the tertiary hospital in Limpopo Province' was conducted (Maputle & Nolte 2008), and experiences of the mothers during childbirth revealed the major concept 'woman-centred care'. 'Womancentred care' emerged as a core concept because it was found to be the central idea or event, and all the other categories and attributes were contingent upon it.…”

“…Concept clarification is an important step in developing useful and usable knowledge in childbirth. In this article concept analysis was conducted subsequent to research undertaken in the tertiary academic hospital complex of the Capricorn district in Limpopo Province, that determined experiences of childbirth of mothers (Maputle & Nolte 2008) and their attending midwives (Maputle & Hiss 2010).…”

Challenges in implementing continuous support during childbirth in selected public hospitals in the North West Province of South Africa

“…Although best practices for continuous support during childbirth are known, they are not generally implemented, either internationally (Bohren et al 2017) or in South Africa (Brown et al 2007;Maputle & Nolte 2008). According to Brown et al (2007), the level of care in South African is not ideal because most women do not benefit from the support of a childbirth companion.…”

“…According to Brown et al (2007), the level of care in South African is not ideal because most women do not benefit from the support of a childbirth companion. A South African study reported that mothers would prefer a childbirth companion, but were not informed about this possibility (Maputle & Nolte 2008).…”