Today around 28 000 women originally from countries where FGM is practised, are living in Sweden. Many of them are at childbearing age which means that knowledge about FGM and its consequences is of outmost importance during delivery. The aim of this study is to describe current research on how to manage the delivery, regarding deinfibulation and the following stitching as well as the risk of complications when the labouring woman is mutilated. This review of literature is based on 12 scientific articles published between years 1989 – 2005. Five different databases have been searched with use of a large number of keywords.The review found that no scientific research has been carried out that describes how deinfibulation and following stitching should be managed when the woman is mutilated. All available articles within this area are referring to best practice only. The review also found that the conclusions of the studies are contradictory. The majority, however, show an increased frequency for prolonged labour that could be related to FGM. The three largest studies also show an increased rate of caesarean section among mutilated women. In the few studies that examine haemorrhage, the majorities show an increased tendency to bleed, that could be related to FGM. Several articles emphasize the importance of good routines for deinfibulation to reduce the risk for complications.In summary it can be established that due to methodological problems in many studies, no reliable conclusion can be made that the researched complications exists to a greater extent when the woman is mutilated

This study responds to the globally increasing rate of caesarean section, and specifically to the very high rate of elective caesarean section among Taiwanese mothers as evidence suggests that such elective caesareans pose potential health risks for mothers and babies. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a multi-component instrument based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to better understand Taiwanese pregnant women's decisions regarding their childbirth delivery options (spontaneous vaginal delivery or elective caesarean section). The study was a four-phased mixed method design. First, the TPB guided item development and instrument drafting. Second, pretesting and instrument refinement used cognitive interviewing with a small sample of Taiwanese pregnant women. Third, the instrument was administered to 310 such women to examine psychometric properties of the component scales. Fourth, the phase 3 instrument was re-administered to 30 women to estimate item stability. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were used to assess construct validity of the multi-item, multi-component measurement model with LISREL 9.1. Based on the TPB, the 52-item self-administered Childbirth Delivery Options Questionnaire (CDOQ) was developed to measure three components: intention regarding delivery options, attitudes toward delivery options, and perceptions of significant others' (partner, mother, and mother-in-law) feelings about delivery options. Respondents from phase two thought that the items on the CDOQ were easy to read and comprehend; they reported favorably on the wording and formatting. Preliminary item analysis revealed that the items referring to dangerousness of delivery options did not function as intended and were dropped because they did not differentiate between the two delivery options, leaving 36 items. Test-retest reliability indicated that responses to each item were positively correlated and those referring to spontaneous vaginal delivery were more stable than those referring to elective caesarean section. Corrected item-to-total correlations and expected change in Cronbach's alpha if item deleted revealed that four items might form a measure of general social norms associated with the Taiwanese culture. The Cronbach's alphas for the components of the CDOQ ranged from .55 to .89. The measurement model incorporating the design features of the CDOQ fitted the data well using the CFA. Because serious problems with multicollinearity and suppression were revealed, Beckstead's (2012) criterion-irrelevant-variance-omitted (CIVO) regression method was used to untangle the suppressor effects when predicting intention from the other components of the CDOQ. The results indicated that attitude and partner's feelings were significant and explained the bulk of the variance in intentions. The TPB-based instrument developed here will be of considerable use to maternal-child health researchers. The findings of this study suggest that decisions regarding delivery options may be modified by interventions geared toward pregnant women's attitudes within family- and cultural-centered prenatal programs.

The aim was to explore the possibility to diagnose retained placental tissue and other placental complications with 3D ultrasound and to investigate the impact of previous caesarean section on placentation in forthcoming pregnancies. 3D ultrasound was used to measure the volumes of the uterine body and cavity in 50 women with uncomplicated deliveries throughout the postpartum period. These volumes were then used as reference, to diagnose retained placental tissue in 25 women with secondary postpartum haemorrhage. All but three of the 25 women had retained placental tissue confirmed at histopathology. The volume of the uterine cavity in women with retained placental tissue was larger than the reference in most cases, but even cavities with no retained placental tissue were enlarged (Studies I and II). Women with their first and second birth, recorded in the Swedish medical birth register, were studied in order to find an association between previous caesarean section and retained placenta. The risk of retained placenta with heavy bleeding (>1,000 mL) and normal bleeding (≤1,000 mL) was estimated for 19,459 women with first caesarean section delivery, using 239,150 women with first vaginal delivery as controls. There was an increased risk of retained placenta with heavy bleeding in women with previous caesarean section (adjusted OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.44-1.79). There was no increased risk of retained placenta with normal bleeding (Study III). Placental location, myometrial thickness and Vascularisation Index were recorded on 400 women previously delivered by caesarean section. The outcome was retained placenta and postpartum haemorrhage (≥1,000 mL). There was a trend towards increased risk of postpartum haemorrhage for women with anterior placentae. Women with placenta praevia had an increased risk of retained placenta and postpartum haemorrhage. Vascularisation Index and myometrial thickness did not associate (Study IV). In conclusion: 3D ultrasound can be used to measure the volume of the uterine body and cavity postpartum, but does not increase the diagnostic accuracy of retained placental tissue. Previous caesarean section increases the risk of retained placenta in subsequent pregnancy, and placenta praevia in women with previous caesarean section increases the risk for retained placenta and postpartum haemorrhage.

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Background: The incidence of caesarean section for breech presentation has reached approximately 90 % in Sweden. In many of these cases, by means of specific selection criteria, it would be as safe to plan for vaginal breech delivery.   Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate differences in management and to compare maternal and fetal outcomes according to delivery mode of breech presentation; vaginal vs. caesarian section. The study included breech presentation in full term singleton pregnancies at the UppsalaUniversityHospital, Uppsala, Sweden (UAS).   Method: The study was based on medical record data with a retrospective, descriptive, comparative design with quantitative approach. The method for data collection was a manual review of patient records using a structured questionnaire.   Results: Of the women with children in breech presentation during the period studied, 11 % gave birth vaginally. Mother's wish was the most common cause of caesarean section. The group with caesarean section included more first-time mothers, longer length of stay at the hospital, increased bleeding and need for pain medication, separation from the child, later lactation and earlier introduction of formula. Vaginally delivered mothers had increased incidence of straight urine catheterization postpartum and of infants with lower Apgar scores.   Conclusion: This study does not support the suggestion that it would be safer to give birth by caesarean section for breech presentation in cases where the woman at full term meets strict selection criteria. Instead of applying medical criteria, the decision regarding mode of delivery was more often left up to the mother.

Objective: We aimed to analyze the birth experience of women with caesarean section (CS) and the influence of clarification. Furthermore weaknesses of care from women’s view should be determined. Method: Online survey of women who had at least one CS Results: We analyzed data of 383 women. 47,8% women had a primary, 52,2% a secondary CS . The birth experience ranged from wonderful (13,3%) to gruesome (25,1%). There were significant more women with secondary CS whose birth experience was associated with negative emotions. Regarded in hindsight for 29,0% the CS was better than expected and 39,6% stated it had been worse than assumed. Almost half of participants stated having coped (rather) bad with the CS and its concomitants. The opportunity of psychological consultation in hospital or at least addresses to contact when needed were repeatedly required. In this survey the birth experience as well as the meeting of expectations toward CS depended on the satisfaction with the antenatal discussion by obstetricians and the clarification by medical staff while for antenatal classes no significant influence could be proved. Conclusions: A substantial amount of women had a negative birth experience. More effort concerning clarification and patient-centered care is required.

This project explores the 'maternal migration effect'. Following migration to a high-income country with a low maternal mortality rate, we assume that some immigrant women’s reliance upon maternal practices that respond to a low-income, high-mortality context can adversely affect care-seeking and utilization of treatment facilities. At highest risk in the United Kingdom and Sweden are those from Africa's Horn, particularly Somali women who have experienced diasporic migration. By applying constructivist qualitative methods as proxies for medical anthropology, we propose a framework for identifying socio-cultural factors, and then we explore how these can influence the western facility-based maternity care encounter. Study 1 proposes a conceptual framework to understand why sub-Saharan African immigrants might experience adverse childbirth outcomes in western settings. Analysis was guided by 'naturalistic inquiry method' to explore delay-causing socio-cultural factors to optimal maternity treatment. Delays can result from (a) broken trust underlying women’s late-booking or refusal of treatment interventions, and care provider frustration; (b) over-reliance on poorly-functioning interpreter services that deny women’s access to medical expertise; and (c) mutual broken trust and miscommunication, and limited development of guidelines for treatment avoidance. Limited coherence exists in the perspectives between women and providers about caesarean section and other interventions, refusal of treatment, and coping strategies following adverse birth outcomes. Care providers' held misconceptions about women’s preferences for gender- and ethnic-congruence. Women preferred competent care. Congruent language was identified as the key ingredient for optimal culture-sensitive care. Study 2 applied 'grounded dimensional analysis' and 'functional narrative analysis' to explore pre-migration socio-cultural factors that influence Somali parents' childbearing in Sweden. Women’s delayed care-seeking continues, despite that childbearing is still perceived as life-threatening. Decision-making is shared between the couple. Men more than women trust care providers to fill gaps in their knowledge. The postpartum period showed that fathers play an important role. "Aftercare" concerns include unarticulated sexual aversion combined with loss of traditional kin support. Women's autonomy is enhanced but greater necessity exists for intimate partner communication and reliance upon professional care services. Medical anthropology can provide a complementary instrument for developing qualitative evidence-based strategies that target prevention of adverse childbirth outcomes in European countries.

This poststructuralist qualitative study explored the discourses constructing women’s choice for a caesarean section in the absence of clinical indications, in the talk and texts of women, midwives, an obstetrician, professional journals and the media publications. The study affirms inscriptions surrounding choice in childbirth are shaped discursively through a multiplicity of discourses underpinned by social and institutional practices. With advances in technology, childbearing women have a greater variety of options from which to choose. Controversial, is the option of a caesarean section, regardless of clinical need. The issue is depicted in both professional and popular discourse as contentious, complex and contradictory. Its momentum into the 21st century, as a new object of obstetric discourse, has been played out on a number of platforms. In this thesis I draw from the theoretical ideas of French philosopher Michel Foucault, to examine this complex debate. I argue there is a volatile moment in the history of childbirth in which an explosion of discourses have sculptured choice for a caesarean, in the absence of clinical indications, out of a repartee of autonomy, convenience, desire, fear and risk. In this precarious moment, new meanings joust with the old on a shifting terrain awash with rhetoric that co-opts, competes, and contradicts to bring about a caché of mutable ‘truths’. Whether caesarean, as an optional extra, can be explained in terms of a libertarian imperative, an embodiment of lifestyle, the satiation of desire, the attenuation of fear or the avoidance of risk, the democratisation of this choice has exposed a pathologising paradox, whereupon the normal emerges as the abnormal, and the abnormal emerges as the normal. The deconstruction of choice through a poststructuralist lens has enabled insight into how contradiction and contest befall the ‘order of things ’ and in so doing, provides new openings for contemplating the discursive positioning of women through the competing discourses of childbirth.

This poststructuralist qualitative study explored the discourses constructing women’s choice for a caesarean section in the absence of clinical indications, in the talk and texts of women, midwives, an obstetrician, professional journals and the media publications. The study affirms inscriptions surrounding choice in childbirth are shaped discursively through a multiplicity of discourses underpinned by social and institutional practices. With advances in technology, childbearing women have a greater variety of options from which to choose. Controversial, is the option of a caesarean section, regardless of clinical need. The issue is depicted in both professional and popular discourse as contentious, complex and contradictory. Its momentum into the 21st century, as a new object of obstetric discourse, has been played out on a number of platforms. In this thesis I draw from the theoretical ideas of French philosopher Michel Foucault, to examine this complex debate. I argue there is a volatile moment in the history of childbirth in which an explosion of discourses have sculptured choice for a caesarean, in the absence of clinical indications, out of a repartee of autonomy, convenience, desire, fear and risk. In this precarious moment, new meanings joust with the old on a shifting terrain awash with rhetoric that co-opts, competes, and contradicts to bring about a caché of mutable ‘truths’. Whether caesarean, as an optional extra, can be explained in terms of a libertarian imperative, an embodiment of lifestyle, the satiation of desire, the attenuation of fear or the avoidance of risk, the democratisation of this choice has exposed a pathologising paradox, whereupon the normal emerges as the abnormal, and the abnormal emerges as the normal. The deconstruction of choice through a poststructuralist lens has enabled insight into how contradiction and contest befall the ‘order of things ’ and in so doing, provides new openings for contemplating the discursive positioning of women through the competing discourses of childbirth.

This poststructuralist qualitative study explored the discourses constructing women’s choice for a caesarean section in the absence of clinical indications, in the talk and texts of women, midwives, an obstetrician, professional journals and the media publications. The study affirms inscriptions surrounding choice in childbirth are shaped discursively through a multiplicity of discourses underpinned by social and institutional practices. With advances in technology, childbearing women have a greater variety of options from which to choose. Controversial, is the option of a caesarean section, regardless of clinical need. The issue is depicted in both professional and popular discourse as contentious, complex and contradictory. Its momentum into the 21st century, as a new object of obstetric discourse, has been played out on a number of platforms. In this thesis I draw from the theoretical ideas of French philosopher Michel Foucault, to examine this complex debate. I argue there is a volatile moment in the history of childbirth in which an explosion of discourses have sculptured choice for a caesarean, in the absence of clinical indications, out of a repartee of autonomy, convenience, desire, fear and risk. In this precarious moment, new meanings joust with the old on a shifting terrain awash with rhetoric that co-opts, competes, and contradicts to bring about a caché of mutable ‘truths’. Whether caesarean, as an optional extra, can be explained in terms of a libertarian imperative, an embodiment of lifestyle, the satiation of desire, the attenuation of fear or the avoidance of risk, the democratisation of this choice has exposed a pathologising paradox, whereupon the normal emerges as the abnormal, and the abnormal emerges as the normal. The deconstruction of choice through a poststructuralist lens has enabled insight into how contradiction and contest befall the ‘order of things ’ and in so doing, provides new openings for contemplating the discursive positioning of women through the competing discourses of childbirth.