Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2009. / Härtill 4 uppsatser. Även tryckt utgåva.

In Sweden, there is currently no consensus addressing the screening, diagnostics and treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In addition, there is little knowledge on the impact of GDM on the daily life of pregnant women and the experiences of health care professionals providing maternal health care to women with GDM. Using different perspectives, this thesis examines the experiences of GDM and the performance of screening for GDM in a regional context in Sweden. The studies used qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative studies, grounded theory was applied in two studies and qualitative content analysis in one study. In the quantitative study, a combination of questionnaire data and data from medical records of pregnancy and birth were processed. Surprisingly, screening for GDM was reduced despite local clinical guidelines stipulating the risk factors indicating an OGTT. Furthermore, the prevalence of the risk factors for GDM in the population investigated was almost doubled compared to previous Swedish studies. Pregnant women developing risk factors for GDM during pregnancy were found to be at substantially increased risk of giving birth to an infant with macrosomia. The experiences of pregnant women with GDM revealed that being diagnosed with and living with GDM during pregnancy might be understood as a process ‘from stun to gradual balance’. The experience comprised both negative and positive dimensions. Despite the challenges, the inconveniences and the changes involved, gradually adapting to an altered lifestyle and finding their balance in daily life was ‘the prize’ the women ‘were willing to pay’ to secure optimal maternal and foetal health. The experiences of midwives comprised managing conflicting demands providing antenatal care to pregnant women diagnosed with GDM. Most midwives felt the obligation to control and monitor the complicated pregnancy, to initiate and motivate the recommended changes in life style together with providing an empowering and caring relation with the women. These assignments disclosed complex conflicting situations and the midwives appeared to choose strategy for managing the situation depending on their perception of the circumstances. The experiences of the obstetricians were understood as ‘dealing with ambiguity’. The ambiguity permeated all aspects of working as an obstetrician within the maternal health care counselling women with GDM: the role of the obstetrician, the context of the organization, balancing the multifaceted interests of the maternal and foetal conditions and the lack of consensus, recommendations and evidence-based knowledge.   The studies revealed the complexity of the situation for the affected pregnant women as well as for the health care professionals providing antenatal care to women diagnosed with GDM. Furthermore, the performance of screening of GDM in pregnant women with risk factors for GDM was insufficient in the investigated region. The findings in this thesis may be useful to increase knowledge of the experiences of pregnant women living with or managing GDM. The findings may also be useful when planning for improvements of maternal health care directed to pregnant women diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy.

Generations of women’s health workers, writers, activists, and academics have tended to present midwifery as the opposite of obstetrics; to summon the appealing association of midwifery by advocating ‘tradition and nature’ over ‘modernity and medicalization;’ and to invoke the melodrama of the subordination of female patients by and to male doctors. This thesis suggests that it is much more productive (and historically accurate) to think of the shifting roles and identities of childbirth practitioners and their clients in terms of “boundary work” rather than the oft-touted dichotomy of domination/resistance. The thesis navigates Enlightenment theories of body and nature and moves to explore the example of the Foucaultian “clinic” to illustrate a relatively unstable foundation on which the biomedical clinic appears not as an entity trapped in time and space, but always already subject to change and negotiation. A discussion of maternal health policy and the roles of birthing women in actively shaping the care they receive brings home the central argument that what is crucial to the ever-developing birthing models is not resisting that which appears to dominate, but affirming a practice that more adequately meets the needs of birthing women in BC today.

Generations of women’s health workers, writers, activists, and academics have tended to present midwifery as the opposite of obstetrics; to summon the appealing association of midwifery by advocating ‘tradition and nature’ over ‘modernity and medicalization;’ and to invoke the melodrama of the subordination of female patients by and to male doctors. This thesis suggests that it is much more productive (and historically accurate) to think of the shifting roles and identities of childbirth practitioners and their clients in terms of “boundary work” rather than the oft-touted dichotomy of domination/resistance. The thesis navigates Enlightenment theories of body and nature and moves to explore the example of the Foucaultian “clinic” to illustrate a relatively unstable foundation on which the biomedical clinic appears not as an entity trapped in time and space, but always already subject to change and negotiation. A discussion of maternal health policy and the roles of birthing women in actively shaping the care they receive brings home the central argument that what is crucial to the ever-developing birthing models is not resisting that which appears to dominate, but affirming a practice that more adequately meets the needs of birthing women in BC today.

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science

Contexte La satisfaction du patient est un indicateur de la qualité des soins et un déterminant important de l’utilisation des services maternels. Son évaluation permet d’identifier des aspects qui doivent être renforcés pour accroître la qualité des soins et permettre une meilleure utilisation des services. Il y a une lacune de données en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) sur la satisfaction des femmes à l’égard de la qualité des services maternels. Objectif : explorer la satisfaction des femmes qui fréquentent les services de soins maternels en RDC ainsi que les facteurs associés à leur perception de la qualité des soins reçus. Méthodes Il s’agit d’une étude phénoménologique descriptive et interprétative. Quinze (15) entrevues semi-dirigées et quatre (4) groupes de discussion ont été réalisés avec des femmes sélectionnées selon un échantillonnage intentionnel à variation maximale dans deux hôpitaux de la zone de santé de N’Djili en RDC. L’analyse de contenu des verbatims a été faite à l’aide du logiciel QDA Miner version 5.0.19. Résultats La quasi-totalité des femmes est satisfaite des soins reçus. Les aspects les plus déterminants dans cette satisfaction sont une bonne issue des soins ainsi qu’une bonne perception des compétences, attitude et disponibilité des prestataires. Cependant, la malpropreté des lieux, la négligence dans la prise en charge, la mauvaise gestion de la douleur du travail d’accouchement et les frais imprévus ont été des sources d’insatisfaction des soins. Conclusion Les femmes participantes semblent satisfaites à l’égard des soins maternels, mais cette satisfaction cache de nombreuses failles dans la qualité en termes de prise en charge et des relations interpersonnelles. Les interventions devraient cibler ces aspects pour accroître la qualité des soins maternels. / Context Patient satisfaction is an indicator of quality of care and an important determinant of the use of maternal services. Its evaluation allows the identification of the aspects of healthcare that should be reinforced to increase the quality of care and allow a better use of the services. There is an insufficient data in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on women satisfaction with maternal services. Objective: explore the satisfaction of women who attend maternity care services in the DRC as well as the factors associated with their perception of the quality of care received. Methods It is a phenomenological descriptive and interpretative study. Fifteen (15) semi-structured interviews and four (4) focus groups were conducted with women selected according to an intentional sampling in two hospitals of N’djili health area in the DRC. The analysis of the content of the verbatim has been done using QDA Miner software version 5.0.19. Results Almost all of the women are satisfied with the care received. The most determining aspects of this satisfaction are the good issue of healthcare as well as a good perception of the skills, attitude and availability of the service providers. However, the environment’s uncleanliness, the personnels’ neglect of care, the bad management of the pain during birth and the unexpected costs were some sources of dissatisfaction with care. Conclusion The participating women showed enough satisfaction with perinatal services, but this satisfaction hides many flaws in the quality in terms of healthcare and interpersonal relationships. The interventions should target these aspects to increase the quality of maternal healthcare.

The determinants of health care use among rural, low-income mothers and their children were assessed using a multi-state, longitudinal data set, Rural Families Speak. The results indicate that rural mothers’ decisions regarding health care utilization for themselves and for their child can be best modeled using a simultaneous systems approach to negative binomial regression. Mothers’ visits to a health care provider increased with higher self-assessed depression scores, increased number of child’s doctor visits, greater numbers of total children in the household, greater numbers of chronic conditions, need for prenatal or post-partum care, development of a new medical condition, and having health insurance (Medicaid/equivalent and HMO/private). Child’s visits to a health care provider, on the other hand, increased with greater numbers of chronic conditions, development of a new medical condition, and increased mothers’ visits to a doctor. Child’s utilization of pediatric health care services decreased with higher levels of maternal depression, greater numbers of total children in the household, if the mother had HMO/private health care coverage, if the mother was pregnant, and if the mother was Latina/African American. Mother’s use of health care services decreased with her age, increased number of child’s chronic conditions, income as a percent of the federal poverty line, and if child had HMO/private health care insurance. The study expands the econometric techniques available for assessing maternal and pediatric health care use and the results contribute to an understanding of how rural, low-income mothers choose the level of health care services use for themselves and for their child. Additionally, the results would assist in formulating policies to reorient the type of health care services provided to this vulnerable population.