”Intimitet tar sig fler uttryck”- en studie om kvinnors förändrade upplevelser kring sitt sexualliv i samband med föräldraskap.Isabelle RubergRuberg, I. ”Intimitet tar sig fler uttryck.” En kvalitativ studie om kvinnors förändrade upplevelser kring sitt sexualliv i samband med föräldraskap. Examensarbete i Sexologi 30 högskolepoäng. Malmö Universitet: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, institutionen för socialt arbete, 2018.Bakgrund: Att bli föräldrar kan för många individer innebära en stor förändring i ens liv både utifrån den enskilda individen men även i relationen till ens partner. Med föräldraskapet medföljer oftast flera förväntningar och en ny rollfördelning som i sin tur kan vara svårt för föräldrarna att balansera emellan. Vidare visar flera studier att faktorer som trötthet, att barnet får all uppmärksamhet och att det finns mindre tid för relationen till ens partner, påverkar individens upplevelse av sexuell lust och dennes vilja till ett intimt sexualliv. Syfte: Syftet är att belysa kvinnors upplevelser kring sitt sexualliv i samband med föräldraskap. Metod: Semistrukturerade intervjuer som utfördes med åtta kvinnor via en Google chatt. För analysen av intervjumaterialet användes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys där nyckelord resulterade i delteman och huvudtema. Resultat och analys: Ur scriptteorin utgick jag från det interpersonella och det kulturella scriptet för att analysera hur dessa script förändrar kvinnors upplevelser av sitt sexualliv i samband med föräldraskapet. Analysen utmynnade i ett övergripande tema ”Intimitet tar sig fler uttryck”. Resultatet i studien visar att majoriteten av kvinnorna upplevde att intimitet fick en djupare innebörd efter barnet hade fötts. Flera av kvinnorna beskriver att innan de fick barn så upplevde de att intimitet sammankopplades mer med en fysisk attraktion till deras partner samt större fokus på sexualliv. Efter barnet har fötts beskriver flera av kvinnorna istället att deras upplevelse av intimitet är något som sammankopplas utifrån ett större behov att ha en emotionell närhet och beröring tillsammans med sin partner. Vidare framgick det även i resultatet att flera av kvinnorna beskrev hur de tidigare sammankopplade upplevelsen av attraktion till deras partner och dennes utseende, medan idag efter barnet har fötts så uppgav flera av kvinnorna att de istället upplevde en större attraktion till deras partner om de fick hjälp med omsorgen av barnet. Konklusion: I analysen av intervjumaterialet var det främst det interpersonella och det kulturella scriptet som var framträdande utifrån informanternas upplevelser av intimitet. Utifrån vad resultatet i denna studie visade så efterfrågar jag i den framtida forskningen kring föräldraskap och sexualitet mer fördjupning i individers upplevelser av intimitet efter de har fått barn. Det innebär ett bredare perspektiv kring vad intimitet generellt innebär efter barnet har fötts, än vad forskningen till stor del visar nu.Nyckelord: Intimitet, föräldraskap, postnatal, sexualitet. / ”Transform the meanings of intimacy” – a study about women’s changed experience about their sexual life associated with the parenthood.Isabelle Ruberg Ruberg, I. ”Transform the meanings of intimacy.” A qualitive study about women’s changed experience with their sexual life associated with the parenthood. Master Thesis in sexology, 30 hp. Malmö University: Faculty of health and Society, 2018Background: Several studies show when you become parent it can for many people be a big change in their life, both for the individual but also in relation to their partner. The parenthood often brings several expectations and new roles in the relationship that can be difficult for the parents to balance between them. Further, several studies show that factors for example, tiredness, child gets all attention and less time for the relationship with your partner, effects people’s experience to feel sexual lust and their will to have intimacy and sexual life. Aim: The aim of the study is to illustrate women’s experience about their sexual life associated with the parenthood. Method: Semi structured interviews were conducted with eight women by Google chats. For the analysis of the interviews a qualitive content-analysis was used were keywords resulted in categories and themes. Result and analysis: From the script theory I used the interpersonal and the cultural script to analyse how these scripts change women’s experience of their sexual life associated with the parenthood. The analysis emerged in to a main theme” Transform the meanings of intimacy”. The result of the study shows that most of the women experience that intimacy got a deeper meaning after the child was born. Several women describe how they before having children experienced intimacy in connection to a more physical attraction to their partner and a bigger focus on their sexual life. Today several of the women describe instead that their experience of intimacy is more connected with a bigger need of an emotional closeness and touch together with their partner. Further the study shows, that several of the women described how they earlier associated the feelings of attraction to their partner and the partner’s look. After the child was born, several of the women instead felt a bigger attraction for their partner if the partner helped more with the care of the child. Conclusion: With the analysis of the interview material it was mainly the interpersonal and cultural scripts that were prominent based on the informants' experiences of intimacy. Based on the result of this study, I ask for future research on parenting and sexuality with a wider focus on individuals' experiences of intimacy after they have had children. It means a broader perspective of what intimacy generally means after the child has been born, than what the research largely shows now. Keyword: Intimacy, parenthood, postnatal, sexuality.

The name of William Harvey is imortal, and it is fitting that a quotation form his epoch-making 'De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis' should preface this thesis. the discoverer of the circulation did not fall to point out the difference between foetal and postnatal conditions of the heart and great vessels. Harvey, however, was not particularly concerned with the problems of the foetal circulation, and devoted only a passing glance to the subject, using foetal conditions to illustrate his general argument about the circulation of the blood. The subsequent progress of though on the subject of foetal circulation has been admirably set out in the first chapter of Barclay, Frankin, and Prichard's book 'The Foetal Circulation', published in 1944, but there is no doubt that the major advance since Harvey's time is represented by the cine-radiographic observations made by the authors of this book on the foetal lamb. They provided, for this species, a convincing and complete picture of the pattern of the foetal circulation, together with the change brought on by allowing the foetus to breathe and by severing the umbilical cord, thus simulating the event of birth.

No description available.

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Postnatal growth of preterm infants does not match recommended intrauterine growth, due to the initial weight loss that accompanies healthy body composition rearrangements after birth. Thus, optimal postnatal growth for preterm infants is currently unknown.</p> <p><strong>Objectives: </strong>(1)<strong> </strong>Collect longitudinal postnatal growth data of 30–36 week GA preterm infants with unimpaired postnatal adaptation; (2) Develop regressions that predict the growth trajectory such an infant will adjust to by days of life 7/14/21; (3) Extrapolate and validate the regressions downwards to 25 weeks.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> Infants of 30–36 week GA, born/admitted to 1/5 participating centres between 2008–2012, who met pre-specified criteria for unimpaired postnatal adaptation and who had at minimum 14 days of data were included. Day-specific anthropometric data from birth to discharge were abstracted retrospectively. Z-score regressions for days 7/14/21 were developed. Regressions were then extrapolated to 25 weeks and validated using an independent study population.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Of 6203 infants, 665 met the screening criteria. By day 14, infants adjusted to stable growth trajectories that were 84±13% of the recommended weight-for-age. Using the following predictors: GA, z-score at birth and hospital-centre, regressions accurately predicted z-scores at days 7, 14 (n=665; R²=0.939, 0.889) and 21 (n=333; R²=0.841). Validation using 25-29 week GA infants (n=173) suggested models were also accurate within this age-range.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results provide robust estimates of a hypothesis of healthy postnatal growth for preterm infants. Future steps include assessing long-term outcomes in a randomized control trial and assessing the quality of growth using body composition analyses.</p> / Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS)

The purpose of the present thesis was to examine and quantitatively study key postnatal events in the developing and mature human cerebral cortex within the context of the systematic variation in the laminar structure of the cortex that underlies connectivity patterns and cortical function. To address this, we expanded upon previous work completed by LeRoy Conel and performed extensive analysis of Cresyl-Violet, Cajal, and Golgi-Cox images of various Von-Economo’s Areas for five age groups in order to see where variations in dendritic tree arborization, which is visualized by Golgi-Cox staining, pruning, which is visualized by Cresyl Violet staining, and cytoskeletal changes, which are visualized by Cajal staining, may lie. The results of this analysis showed that across all age groups and cortical types, there are consistently high levels of dendritic tree arborization, cytoskeletal changes, and cell body density changes in all layers across younger age groups, followed by slight declines in older age groups, following the trend of rapid gray matter expansion during the first two years of postnatal life before shifting towards white matter growth. These levels were also the most exaggerated in cortical layers III and V of Agranular, Dysgranular, Eulaminate II, and Eulaminate III areas, suggesting that cortical layers III and V of these areas change the most rapidly during the key events of postnatal development that Conel sought to analyze in his staining experiments. We also found that in layers III and V, Golgi-Cox values increased, reflecting the growth of dendritic trees while Cresyl-Violet and Cajal values decreased, reflecting decreases in cell body density, allowing for increased space between cells, highlighting a complementary inverse relationship that is seen between neurite outgrowth and cell body density. Since postnatal developmental processes in the cortex are largely driven by transcription factors that regulate chromatin expression well into adulthood, we also examined how certain epigenetic modifications in the nuclei of neurons in the adult cortex may explain for variations seen between areas in the analysis of Conel’s images. To address this, we analyzed populations of H4K12 and SC35 expressing pyramidal neurons in layers III and V of Area 46 and Area 32 in order to further understand how patterns of acetylation and RNA splicing may play a role in the rapid changes of layers III and V seen in Eulaminate II and Dysgranular areas. In the case of SC35, higher levels of splicing were seen in layer III of Area 32 and layer V of Area 46, suggesting that splicing centers within the neurons of these layers and areas are more organized. In the case of H4K12, similar levels of acetylation were observed in layers III and V of Area 46 whereas higher levels were observed in layer V of Area 32, indicating a certain degree of regulation of gene expression within these areas. The results of this study demonstrate variations in the timing of the major events of postnatal development across layers in different structural types of cortical areas that correspond to limbic, multimodal, and highly specialized unimodal areas and the inverse relationship seen between neurite outgrowth and changes in cell body density. Additionally, these results demonstrate the impact that patterns of RNA splicing and acetylation may have on these events and can be utilized to identify disruptions in developmental disorders such as autism. / 2024-09-21T00:00:00Z

Yes / Poor perinatal mental health, in particular depression, affects at least 10% of new mothers in the UK. Current best practice recommends the use of talking therapies or medication, however, many women choose not to use medication or are deterred from accessing NHS services for example due to immigration status. Those who can access NHS treatment often face a long waiting list to see a clinician or therapist. Untreated perinatal depression impacts on the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies, consequently it is essential that alternative psychosocial interventions delivered by non-clinicians are considered. A systematic review was conducted on seven quantitative studies examining the effect of psychosocial interventions in reducing maternal symptoms of depression. Interventions focused either on physical activity or peer support, measuring depression scores on a validated screening tool. The review concludes that antenatal group peer support may benefit women in the antenatal period and that postnatal peer telephone support may be helpful for primiparous women but further large scale research is required.

Background: Postnatal depression (PND) is a global problem and an important public health issue. It is estimated that approximately 15% of women experience depression during the first postnatal year but there are problems in recognition because its clinical assessment can be complex. The incidence of postnatal depression continues to rise resulting in serious consequences for the mother, her child and the extended family and a risk of suicide (the leading cause of maternal death in England and Wales) and infanticide in some severely depressed mothers. Treatment programmes vary considerably but many studies are suggesting that psychological interventions can be as equally, if not more, clinically effective in the management of depression as routine care from a general practitioner or anti-depressants in the short term – and may be more cost effective. Method: The aim of this exploratory pilot study is to identify whether the support, on a one to one basis, from a Peer Support Worker (PSW) would assist in the reduction of PND in new mothers. Eight PSW’s were recruited. Each PSW had previously suffered from mild to moderate postnatal depression but had recovered and were not currently receiving any form of psychological support or taking any medication. They were employed, on a six month contract, by the local NHS Trust. References and enhanced criminal records clearance were obtained. A confidentiality statement was also signed by the PSW. Thirty mothers were recruited by their own Health Visitor. This was carried out using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scoring documentation (EPDS) alongside a clinical assessment. The cut off score, as agreed by both the lead researcher and the Health Visitors involved in the study, was 11. Fully informed consent was obtained and participant information sheets given. The mothers were allocated into either a Control group or an Intervention group using number alternating. The PSW’s received formal training about child protection procedures/safeguarding children in addition to the relevance and importance of confidentiality. However, apart from this, a structured training programme was not adhered to. The PSW’s strongly felt, as a combined group, that they wanted to provide the intervention simply as a ‘fellow mum who had survived the rollercoaster journey of PND’. Each PSW wanted to identify the nature of the problem, find a possible solution, and design their own proposed ‘support package’ – from the outset of the study. The PSW visited the mother in their home environment, or a location of their choice, for a period of six weeks on a once weekly basis (intervention group). This was then compared to a number of mothers who received support from their family Health Visitor (HV) alone (control group). Data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. The PSW's and the mothers from both the control group and the intervention group were asked to maintain a log book reflecting upon their feelings and thoughts after each visit (either from their PSW or their HV). Individual and group supervisory sessions were also offered by the lead researcher to both the mothers within the intervention group, and the control group, in addition to the PSW’s. A number of the participants were interviewed on a one to one basis when their infant was six months old. Data from the interviews was subsequently transcribed, coded and categorised, and key themes identified. Quantitative data was collated in the form of an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) – an assessment tool which is routinely used to identify mothers at risk or suffering from postnatal depression. The EPDS score was recorded prior to the support commencing by either a PSW or the Health Visitor, after completion of all six visits, and when the infant was six months old. Analysis: The EPDS scores recorded at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and again when the infant was six months old, were analysed and summarised using graphs and charts. Non parametric analysis using Friedman’s Anova and the Wilcoxon paired test was carried out. A Mann Whitney test, Kolmogorov-Smirrov test and a Shapiro-Wilk test were also performed. A constant comparative method was used as a means of analysing the qualitative data collected from both log books and interview transcript (Denscombe 2008). The lead researcher consistently read and re-read text data, compared new codes and categories as they emerged and repeatedly compared them against existing versions. This process enabled the researcher to refine and improve the explanatory power of the concepts and theories generated from the data. Similarities and differences were highlighted and categories and codes were identified. On completion of this analysis, all participants were contacted to ensure validity of the findings and that each participant agreed with the researchers interpretation of the data collected. Results: Qualitative and quantitative findings from this study suggest that the input from a PSW does assist in the reduction of PND in new mothers. This is demonstrated in both the analysis of the quantitative data and the qualitative. The EPDS scores demonstrated little difference between the participants at 6 weeks but the statistics started to diverge at 12 weeks – the mean at 12 weeks for the control group is recorded at 12.46 and the intervention group is 10.33 – a difference of 2.13. The EPDS at six months demonstrates a difference between the two scores as 2.67 (the control group mean recording is 11.60 compared with the intervention mean which is 8.93). The key themes identified were the immeasurable value of ‘social support’ and ‘shared experiences’. The resounding factor that appears repeatedly throughout the analysis of data is the fact that the mothers could ‘truly relate to their Worker.’ Their PSW gave them ‘hope’, made them feel as if they were ‘not a failure’ and gave them an overwhelming ‘sense of normality’. This, in turn, increased their self-esteem, their positivity towards their parenting role, and their ability to therefore be ‘a good mother.’ A major strength of the work was the involvement of the PSW’s in both the planning and the implementing of the intervention. It was their design, their creation, and their feelings about what may really help their mother. A number of other themes were also identified that were, interestingly, commonalities across the entire data set (participants and PSW’s). These included recognition of their own changing perspective – a realisation that there simply is no ‘quick fix’ solution, that both time and support are required. The PSW’s described feelings of ‘personal benefit’, ‘self-awareness’ and the ‘provision of closure’ for themselves. The intervention group also talked, at length, about their ‘personal benefit’ from the PSW, and their own self-awareness about how they truly felt, their emotions and, in some instances, why they felt this way. The control group recognised the huge advantage from talking to other mothers and, although they did not have the formal support sessions from a PSW, they embraced the opportunity of sharing their thoughts and feelings with ‘fellow mums’. Each participant, and PSW, discussed the sharing of experiences, empathy, the feeling of ‘release’ and, particularly on the mothers’ part, the importance of knowing that, actually, they are not ‘alone’. Conclusion: The aim of this study was to provide early intervention to mothers who were classed as ‘at risk’ of suffering from PND, and, indeed, the support from the PSW’s did appear to have a positive impact upon the mothers’ mental health and wellbeing. However, this was a small scale, pilot study over a relatively short period of time. Larger, more longitudinal studies are certainly required. The importance of the pilot study presented here lies in its usefulness in shaping research to investigate and explore further whether there are indeed beneficial factors to post-natally depressed mothers who receive one to one support from a PSW. The positive results from this study can, potentially, have a huge impact within practice and, most importantly, upon the lives of those affected by postnatal depression.

Bakgrund: Forskningen visar att kvinnor tycker det finns en vinst i att ha ett postpartumsamtal, de värdesätter att få stämma av sin förlossningsupplevelse. Ändå erbjuds inte alla kvinnor detta. Tidigare forskning har visat att barnmorskor likaså värdesätter postpartumsamtal för kvinnans skull men att barnmorskorna saknar utbildning i att genomföra postpartumsamtal på ett tillfredsställande sätt. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva barnmorskors erfarenheter och upplevelser kring postpartumsamtal. Metod: Tre fokusgruppsintervjuer genomfördes med barnmorskor som arbetar på förlossningsavdelning. Semistrukturerad intervju genomfördes utifrån en frågeguide. Som analysmetod användes kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Ett tema, fyra kategorier och 15 underkategorier identifierades. Temat var: Postpartumsamtal idag: Att möta behovet och framtidens utmaningar. Kategorierna var: Postpartumsamtalets betydelse för kvinnan, Postpartumsamtal inte för alla, Genomförande av postpartumsamtal och Förutsättningar för postpartumsamtal. Slutsats: Barnmorskornas upplevelse var att postpartumsamtalet är viktigt för kvinnor, deras partners samt för barnmorskorna själva. Anpassning av organisationen behövs för att erbjuda postpartumsamtal utifrån föräldraparets behov. Kunskap från postpartumsamtal kan tillvaratas för utveckling både för personlig yrkesutveckling för barnmorskan och vårdutveckling för organisationen. Detta kan vara ett steg mot en mer kvinnocentrerad vård. Klinisk tillämpbarhet: Studiens resultat skulle kunna leda till utveckling av rutiner kring postpartumsamtal. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att utveckla en samtalsmodell som kan tydliggöra postpartumsamtalets utförande och innehåll. / Background: Previous research shows postpartum counselling beneficial, women value to talk about their childbirth experiences. Still, not all women are offered the option of postpartum counselling. Midwives find it beneficial for women to have a postpartum counselling. Midwives find they have a lack of knowledge to perform fulfilling postpartum counselling. Aim: The aim was to describe midwives’ experiences of postpartum counselling. Method: Three focus group interviews were conducted with midwives employed at the maternity ward. The interviews were semi-structured, based on a questionnaire. Qualitative content analysis was used as the analyze method. Results: One theme, four categories and 15 subcategories were identified. The theme was: Postpartum counselling today: To meet the need and challenges for the future. The categories were: The meaning of postpartum counselling for the woman, Postpartum counselling, not for everyone, To perform postpartum counselling, Conditions to perform postpartum counselling. Conclusion: The midwives’ experiences were that postpartum counselling was of importance to women, their partners but also for the midwive. The organization is in need for adjustment to be able to offer postpartum counselling based on the parents’ needs. Knowledge could be drawn from postpartum counselling for both professional development and care development. This could be one step closer to women centered care. Clinical application: The results of the study could lead to development of routines surrounding postpartum counselling. Yet there is a need for more research in the development of a postpartum counselling model. The model could clarify the content and how to perform postpartum counselling.

La cellule cardiaque requiert un apport énergétique conséquent qui exige une production et un transfert énergétiques efficaces. Si la production de l’énergie dépend essentiellement des propriétés intrinsèques des mitochondries, il semblerait que l’efficacité du transfert d’énergie du site de production vers les sites consommateurs (ATPases) pourrait être liée à l’architecture spécifique du cardiomyocyte qui conduit à une organisation spatiale singulière des structures internes (mitochondries, réticulum sarcoplasmique, myofilaments). Pour comprendre ce qui lie la cytoarchitecture, la compartimentation cellulaire et la fonction contractile, il a été entrepris d’étudier l’architecture cellulaire et la signalisation énergétique de cardiomyocytes au cours du processus de maturation de la cytoarchitecture et dans un modèle présentant une désorganisation des structures intracellulaires. La première partie de ce travail, réalisée durant le développement postnatal de la souris, a permis de démontré qu’il existe une synchronisation parfaite entre la mise en place de la cytoarchitecture et la maturation fonctionnelle du transfert d’énergie par canalisation directe des nucléotides adényliques entre les mitochondries et les ATPases. Si cette étude apporte un élément qui tendrait à démontrer l’implication de l’architecture cellulaire dans l’efficacité des transferts d’énergie, elle a également mis en avant la maturation très précoce de l’énergétique cellulaire. La mitochondrie faisant partie intégrante de cette architecture et étant modelée par des mécanismes de fusion et de fission, la deuxième étape de ce travail de thèse a consisté à étudier l’implication de la morphologie mitochondriale dans l’énergétique du cardiomyocyte. Il a ainsi été montré que, chez la souris, la diminution d’expression de la protéine OPA1, impliquée dans la fusion mitochondriale, conduit à des perturbations de la morphologie mitochondriale qui n’affectent pas la fonction intrinsèque mitochondriale mais qui altèrent le système de canalisation directe entre les mitochondries et les ATPases des myofilaments. De manière générale, ces résultats démontrent clairement une dépendance des transferts d’énergie à l’architecture cellulaire spécifique de la cellule musculaire cardiaque. / The cardiac cell function requires a large amount of energy and therefore needs a high efficiency of energetic production and energetic transfer. While the energy production depends on the intrinsic properties of the mitochondria, it appears that the efficiency of energetic transfers from the main producers (mitochondria) to consumers (ATPases) could be related to the specific architecture of the cardiomyocyte, which ensures a unique spatial organization of internal structures (mitochondria, sarcoplasmic reticulum, myofilaments). In order to reveal the role of mitochondrial network organization in cardiac energy metabolism, we studied the cellular architecture and the energetic signalling of cardiomyocytes in the process of maturation of the cytoarchitecture and in a model which exhibits a perturbation of the mitochondrial dynamics. The first part of this work, which was performed during postnatal development of the mouse, showed the perfect synchronisation between the establishment of the cytoarchitecture and the maturation of the transfer of energy by direct channelling of adenine nucleotides between mitochondria and ATPases. While this study provides an element which would demonstrate the involvement of cellular architecture in the efficiency of energy transfer, it also highlighted the very early maturation of the energetic system of the cell. Knowing that the mitochondria are an integral part of the cell architecture and that the mitochondrial network is controlled by fusion and fission mechanisms, the second step of this work consisted in investigating the involvement of mitochondrial dynamics in cardiomyocyte energetics. Our work has shown that a decrease in expression of OPA1, a protein responsible for mitochondrial fusion, leads to disruption of mitochondrial morphology which does not affect intrinsic mitochondrial function but affects the direct channelling of ATP and ADP between mitochondria and ATPases of the myofilaments. Overall, these results clearly demonstrate that energy transfer in cardiomyocytes strictly depends on specific cellular architecture.

Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Background: When pregnant women deliver fresh stillbirths, their expectations and happiness are heartlessly substituted by mourning for their loss. The consequences are psychosocial and physiological. Mothers begin to search for answers while feeling guilt and shame; some accept blame for their babies‟ death. Their experiences are determined by the care they received from healthcare workers during delivery and grieving period. They complain that doctors and nurses care about the fact that the baby has been delivered and do not care about the emotional trauma that the mother is experiencing. Objectives: To identify, explore and describe experiences of women who delivered fresh stillbirths at a public hospital. Methods: A qualitative and descriptive phenomenological study was conducted using an in-depth phenomenological interview technique to collect data. Due to data saturation, nine purposively selected mothers participated. Interviews were conducted in the local language, and field notes were also collected. Interview recordings were transcribed and translated and analysed using open coding thematic analysis. Results: Some women experienced feelings of guilt, sadness, hurt, sense of failure, shock and self-blame. Some needed counselling whereas others were doing fine without it. Some experienced lack of sympathy from healthcare workers. Conclusions: Giving birth to a stillborn baby is a painful experience for women and their families. Healthcare workers should care for such mothers after delivery. Keywords: Stillbirth; postnatal care, phenomenological study design, field notes / AMREF