The improvement of mental healthcare services requires patients' experiences to identify problems and possible deficits in care. In this study, we explored the nature and meaning of formal patient complaints about mental healthcare services in one region of Sweden using a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. A systematic random sample of 106 formal patient complaints about mental healthcare services in 1 Swedish county was selected and analysed thematically, based on descriptive phenomenology. Themes identified were: lack of access to mental healthcare services and specialist treatment, problems related to unmet needs and difficulties with healthcare staff, insufficient care and treatment and lack of continuity in care, and experiences of not been taken seriously or feeling abused by staff. The vulnerability of patients already in the system is a greater issue than realized. The human right to health and the healthcare of patients with mental ill health can be strengthened by increased access to care, listening to patients properly, and delivering continuity in care.

Introduction Many women experience giving birth as traumatic. Although women's subjective experiences of trauma are considered the most important, currently there is no clear inclusive definition of a traumatic birth to help guide practice, education, and research. Aim To formulate a woman-centered, inclusive definition of a traumatic childbirth experience. Methods After a rapid literature review, a five-step process was undertaken. First, a draft definition was created based on interdisciplinary experts' views. The definition was then discussed and reformulated with input from over 60 multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers during a perinatal mental health and birth trauma research meeting in Europe. A revised definition was then shared with consumer groups in eight countries to confirm its face validity and adjusted based on their feedback. Results The stepwise process confirmed that a woman-centered and inclusive definition was important. The final definition was: "A traumatic childbirth experience refers to a woman's experience of interactions and/or events directly related to childbirth that caused overwhelming distressing emotions and reactions; leading to short and/ or long-term negative impacts on a woman's health and wellbeing." Conclusions This definition of a traumatic childbirth experience was developed through consultations with experts and consumer groups. The definition acknowledges that low-quality provider interactions and obstetric violence can traumatize individuals during childbirth. The women-centered and inclusive focus could help women to identify and validate their experiences of traumatic birth, offering benefits for practice, education, and research, as well as for policymaking and activism in the fields of perinatal mental health and respectful maternity care.

BACKGROUND: Labour and birth are sensitive physiological processes substantially influenced by environmental and psychosocial factors.

AIM: To explore the influence and meaning of the birth environment for nulliparous women giving birth in either one of two differently designed birthing rooms at a hospital-based labour ward.

METHODS: Five months of ethnographic fieldwork was conducted at a labour ward in Sweden, consisting of participant observations of 16 nulliparous women giving birth in either a 'Regular' birthing room (n = 8) or a specially designed, 'New room' (n = 8). Data included field notes, informal interviews, reflective notes, and individual interviews with eight women after birth. The data was analysed through an ethnographic iterative hermeneutic analysis process.

FINDINGS: The analysis identified the birth environment as consisting of the physical space, the human interaction within it, and the institutional context. The analytic concept; Birth Manual was conceived as an instrument for managing labour in accordance with institutional authority. Significant to the interpretation of the influence and meaning of the birth environment were two abstract rooms: an Institutional room, where birth was approached as a critical event, designating birthing women as passive; and a Personal room, where birth was approached as a physiological event in which women's agency was facilitated.

CONCLUSION: Institutional authority permeated the atmosphere within the birth environment, irrespective of the design of the room. A power imbalance between institutional demands and birthing women's needs was identified, emphasising the vital role the birth philosophy plays in creating safe birth environments that increase women's sense of agency.

BACKGROUND: The second stage of labour is generally considered as an intensive part of labour. Despite this, knowledge about women's experiences of the second stage of labour is scant.

AIM: To explore experiences of the second stage of labour in women with spontaneous vaginal birth.

METHODS: This is a qualitative study where twenty-one women with a spontaneous birth at term, were interviewed four to ten weeks after birth. Data were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis based on descriptive phenomenology. The participating women had experienced a vaginal birth; some for the first time, having previously given birth by caesarean section and some with a previous vaginal birth.

FINDINGS: Three themes emerged: "An experience of upheaval" which represents the women's experiences of intensity, power and pain during the second stage of labour. "The importance of trusting relationships" signifies the meaning of women's relationships during the second stage of labour. "Becoming a mother" which is characterised by feelings of accomplishment and the experience of the final moments of birth.

CONCLUSION: During the second stage of labour women experienced overwhelming sensations which made evident the importance of trusting relationships with those involved in the birth. The women were in a transformative state between pregnancy and motherhood where experiences of being involved and being provided with information and guidance were all considered crucial. Continuous support should be offered to women during the second stage of labour.

Aim: To summarize, categorize and describe published research on how birthing room design influences maternal and neonate physical and emotional outcomes.

Background: The physical healthcare environment has significant effects on health and wellbeing. Research indicates that birthing environments can impact women during labor and birth. However, summaries of the effects of different environments around birth are scarce.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review, searching 10 databases in 2016 and 2017 for published research from their inception dates, on how birthing room design influences maternal and neonate physical and emotional outcomes, using a protocol agreed a priori. The quality of selected studies was assessed, and data were extracted independently by pairs of authors and described in a narrative analysis.

Results: In total, 3373 records were identified and screened by title and abstract; 2063 were excluded and the full text of 278 assessed for analysis. Another 241 were excluded, leaving 15 articles presenting qualitative and quantitative data from six different countries on four continents. The results of the analysis reveal four prominent physical themes in birthing rooms that positively influence on maternal and neonate physical and emotional outcomes: 1) means of distraction, comfort, and relaxation; 2) raising the birthing room temperature; 3) features of familiarity; and 4) diminishing a technocratic environment.

Conclusions: The evidence on how birthing environments affect outcomes of labor and birth is incomplete. There is a crucial need for more research in this field.    

Background: Women’s experiences of labour and birth can have both short- and long-term effects on theirphysical and psychological health. The original Swedish version of the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) has shown to have good psychometric quality and ability to differentiate between groups known to differ inchildbirth experience. Two subscales were revised in order to include new items with more relevant content aboutdecision-making and aspects of midwifery support. The aim of the study was to develop new items in twosubscales and to test construct validity and reliability of the revised version of CEQ, called CEQ2.

Method: A total of 11 new items (Professional Support and Participation) and 14 original items from the first CEQ(Own capacity and Perceived safety), were answered by 682 women with spontaneous onset of labour. Confirmatoryfactor analysis was used to analyse model fit.

Results: The hypothesised four-factor model showed good fit (CMIN = 2.79; RMR = 0.33; GFI = 0.94; CFI = 0.94; TLI =0.93; RMSEA = 0.054 and PCLOSE = 0.12) Cronbach’s alpha was good for all subscales (0.82, 0.83, 0.76 and 0.73) andfor the total scale (0.91).

Conclusions: CEQ2, like the first CEQ, yields four important aspects of experience during labour and birth showinggood psychometric performance, including decision-making and aspects of midwifery support, in both primiparousand multiparous women.

Background: Despite evidence supporting the safety of vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC), rates are lowin many countries.

Methods: OptiBIRTH investigated the effects of a woman-centred intervention designed to increase VBAC ratesthrough an unblinded cluster randomised trial in 15 maternity units with VBAC rates < 35% in Germany, Ireland andItaly. Sites were matched in pairs or triplets based on annual birth numbers and VBAC rate, and randomised, 1:1 or 2:1, intervention versus control, following trial registration. The intervention involved evidence-based education ofclinicians and women with one previous caesarean section (CS), appointment of opinion leaders, audit/peer review,and joint discussions by women and clinicians. Control sites provided usual care. Primary outcome was annualhospital-level VBAC rates before the trial (2012) versus final year of the trial (2016). Between April 2014 and October2015, 2002 women were recruited (intervention 1195, control 807), with mode-of-birth data available for 1940women.

Results: The OptiBIRTH intervention was feasible and safe across hospital settings in three countries. There was nostatistically significant difference in the change in the proportion of women having a VBAC between interventionsites (25.6% in 2012 to 25.1% in 2016) and control sites (18.3 to 22.3%) (odds ratio adjusted for differences betweenintervention and control groups (2012) and for homogeneity in VBAC rates at sites in the countries: 0.87, 95% CI:0.67, 1.14, p = 0.32 based on 5674 women (2012) and 5284 (2016) with outcome data. Among recruited womenwith birth data, 4/1147 perinatal deaths > 24 weeks gestation occurred in the intervention group (0.34%) and 4/782in the control group (0.51%), and two uterine ruptures (one per group), a rate of 1:1000.

Conclusions: Changing clinical practice takes time. As elective repeat CS is the most common reason for CS inmultiparous women, interventions that are feasible and safe and that have been shown to lead to decreasingrepeat CS, should be promoted. Continued research to refine the best way of promoting VBAC is essential. Thismay best be done using an implementation science approach that can modify evidence-based interventions inresponse to changing clinical circumstances.Trial registration: The OptiBIRTH trial was registered on 3/4/2013. Trial registration number ISRCTN10612254.

Purpose: Women’s experiences of pregnancy, labour and birth are for some pregnant women negative and they develop a fear of childbirth, which can have consequences for their wellbeing and health. The aim was to synthesize qualitative literature to deepen the understanding of women’s experiences of fear of childbirth.

Methods: A systematic literature search and a meta-synthesis that included 14 qualitative papers.

Results: The main results demonstrate a deepened understanding of women’s experiences of fear of childbirth interpreted through the metaphor “being at a point of no return”. Being at this point meant that the women thought there was no turning back from their situation, further described in the three themes: To suffer consequences from traumatic births, To lack warranty and understanding, and To face the fear.

Conclusions: Women with fear of childbirth are need of support that can meet their existential issues about being at this point of no return, allowing them to express and integrate their feelings, experiences and expectations during pregnancy, childbirth and after birth.

Women with fear after birth, i.e., after an earlier negative birth experience, need support that enables them to regain trust in maternity care professionals and their willingness to provide them with good care that offers the support that individual women require. Women pregnant for the first time require similar support to reassure them that other’s experiences will not happen to them.

Background

Theoretical models as a basis for midwives’ care have been developed over recent decades. Although there are similarities between these models, their usefulness in practice needs to be researched in specific cultural contexts.

Aim

To explore whether, when adopted by midwives on labour wards, a midwifery model of woman-centred care (MiMo) was useful in practice from the viewpoint of a variety of health professionals.

Methods

Data were collected from a variety of health professionals before and after an intervention of implementating MiMo at a hospital-based labour ward in Sweden, using nine focus group interviews with a total of 43 participants: midwives (n = 16), obstetricians (n = 8), assistant nurses (n = 11) and managers (n = 8). The text from interviews was analysed using content analysis.

Findings

From expressing no explicit need of a midwifery model of woman-centred care before the intervention, there was a shift in midwives, obstetricians and managers perceptions towards identifying advantages of using the MiMo as it gives words to woman-centred midwifery care. Such shift in perception was not found among the assistant nurses.

Discussion

Clarification of the various roles of health professionals is needed to develop the model. Heavy workloads and stress were barriers to implementing the model. Thus, more support is needed from organisational management.

Conclusions

The model was useful for all professional groups, except for assistant nurses. Further studies are needed in order to clarify the various professional roles and interdisciplinary collaborations in making the MiMo more useful in daily maternity care.

Purpose: There is a need to deepen knowledge about midwives’ care in obstetric-led labour wards in which midwives are responsible for normal births. This ethnographic study explores the content and meaning of midwives’ care of women in a hospital-based labour ward in Sweden prior to the introduction of a theoretical midwifery model of care. 

Methods: Data were gathered through participant observation, analysed through interpretation grounded in reflexivity discussions and are presented in the form of ethnographic descriptions. 

Results: The midwives’ care was provided in a field of tension in which they had to balance contrasting models of care, described in the themes: The birthing rooms and the office—Different rooms of care, Women giving birth or being delivered—Midwives’ expectations and relationships with women, Old and new caring roles of the midwife—Women giving birth in a “new age”, Being and doing—Different approaches to caring, and Holistic and reductionist care—Guided by contrasting models and guidelines. The midwives’ freedom to act as autonomous professionals was hindered by medical and institutional models of care and this led to uncertainty regarding their roles as midwives. 

Conclusions: Midwives having to balance their activities in a field of tension require midwifery models that can guide their practice.