Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Numbers of caesarean sections, epidurals, and other forms of medical interventions for birthing are rising in the United States healthcare industry. One possible reason is the medicalization of birthing and labor techniques. Another potential reason is the increasing distinction between laboring in a hospital versus laboring in the home or an independent birthing center. The dominance of the medical model of birthing has led to social constructions of birthing that divide women by diagnosis, into either high-risk or low-risk prenatal categories, further perpetuating the medical model’s power to marginalize the midwifery model. Forty percent of U.S. births are financed by Medicaid insurance. Because Medicaid insurance is based on the technocratic medical model, birthing providers that accept Medicaid insurance may be pressured, directly and indirectly, to adopt the medical model as the most appropriate birthing option, decentering the midwifery model. Inevitably, this potentially shifts birthing options and experiences for low-income women in the U.S. In order to understand how low-income women experience birthing in U.S birthing institutions, we first need to take a closer look at how birthing facilities socially construct birthing. Among many areas of influence for the social construction of birthing, website content has been neglected as a form of primary data. Using content analysis, this study investigates how web content aids in the social stock of knowledge on labor and delivery. Analyzing the websites of three birthing centers and two public hospitals that accept Medicaid insurance in Miami, Florida, this study’s findings indicate that the language used on birthing center websites aligns with the midwifery model, but reverts to the medical model used by hospitals, in language and policy, when discussing cases of emergency birthing. The public hospital websites, meanwhile, appropriate the language and procedures of the midwifery model without providing the practical benefits of natural birthing. Findings in this study also capture a snapshot of birthing models used by providers in Miami, Florida ahead of its 2016 transition from the Florida Medicaid system to the Federally-Funded Marketplace, as per the Affordable Care Act of 2009. By assessing how birthing providers socially construct birthing, we could reduce the underrepresentation of natural birthing, exposing low-income women to more balanced depictions of both the medical and midwifery models of birthing, possibly reducing negative socio-emotional outcomes during birthing, postpartum depression and maternity-mortality rates among the poor.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1964.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1964.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1987. / Typescript. Restricted until May 1988. Bibliography : leaves 145-155. Also available online.

Stress reduction techniques have been used to assist people in coping with stressful medical procedures and events. Labor and delivery training classes have utilized techniques to assist women with the childbirth process. The classes generally included basic education of labor and delivery, respiration behavior, relaxation of muscles, and participation of a coach. Reducing the amount of pain experienced in labor and delivery has been suggested for facilitating the process and decreasing the amount of medication received. The painful experience changed from an uncontrollable situation into a positive one, allowing women to feel more resourceful, less anxious, and less threatened.

Satisfaction with in-patient maternity care within the Military Healthcare System (MHS) continues to score significantly below national benchmarks when compared to civilian hospitals and doctors. Lack of independent, qualitative research in this area has left the MHS with few answers as to why patients are satisfied, but still unhappy, with specific aspects of care. Discrepancy theory was used in conjunction with grounded theory as the foundation and framework for understanding the expectations and experiences of women who have given birth in the MHS within the past year. Using grounded theory and a hermeneutical approach to interview participants, qualitative data were collected to understand these women's expectations, experiences, and satisfaction. Participants were active duty dependents who had given birth within the last year at a local hospital and used TRICARE as their only insurance. They were recruited through the base's local community online network and 12 women total participated. Data were carefully analyzed using transcriptions and were subsequently grouped into common patterns, and then into themes. Findings revealed 3 key themes: (a) participants had one or more complaints or complications with their maternity care; (b) previous experiences on standard care were mostly negative, and (c) differences in satisfaction may be seen when a patient's personal experiences and beliefs about an occurrence are met or excused. This study contributes to social change by adding previously unexplored qualitative data to the military healthcare community in a population that had not been investigated in this manner and has the potential to increase understanding about the population, as well as how experiences, expectations, and satisfaction coexist.

No description available.

Nursing theory has contributed significantly to discussions of so-called culturally competent biomedical healthcare delivery. This study explores how Labor and Delivery nurses at a large, urban teaching hospital negotiate the care of a hyper-diverse patient population and construct working understandings of competence. Archival research, semi-structured interviews and participant observation demonstrate that cultural competence is not a distinct concept, but rather functions as an ambiguous symbol used to discuss a variety of challenges with advocating for patients and delivering care in communities faced with issues of racism, immigration, low socioeconomic status, and multiple comorbidities.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brock University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35).