It is acknowledged that society's image of a midwife is synonymous with delivering a new life and new beginnings to a family. In essence the midwife is recognized as occupying a pivotal position at key times in a woman's life. Thankfully, almost all pregnancies result in a healthy baby, however to achieve a positive outcome the midwife is constantly striving to give quality care during the antenatal, intranatal and postnatal periods. The primary focus of this study is the utilisation of a phenomenological framework to capture an understanding of what it is like to be a midwife, from a differing and rarely considered angle. The literature provides increasing evidence as to the impact on mothers and fathers of having a stillborn baby. However, few studies have sought to ascertain what does it mean to be a midwife and experience delivering a stillborn baby or being party to that event. A phenomenological approach allowed the lived experiences of twelve midwives to be captured by means of semi- structured taped interviews. After transcribing the interviews the data was analysed by means of a constant comparison approach. Thirty conceptual categories were organised into six conceptual themes that provided the fundamental nature of those twelve midwives lived experience of the phenomenon called a stillbirth event. The data analysis is taken to a further level through reflection upon the emergent implications for midwifery practice and education. That activity culminated in the formulation of a main proposal that being, requesting the midwifery profession to consider the advantages to midwives of being able to access a support framework, which provides the opportunity for guided reflection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:558562 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Kenworthy, Doreen |
| Publisher | University of Bradford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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