Introduction

Peer-perpetrated sexual violence is very common in young adult relationships. In Sweden, one in four young women has experienced sexual violence, and it is a leading cause of mental health issues among young women today. Knowledge about how recovery is enabled for young women with experience of peer-perpetrated sexual violence remains limited. The primary emphasis of caring is to support health and well-being and to contribute to recovery; therefore, understanding the meaning of how recovery is enabled is essential when caring for these young women.

Aim

The aim of this study is to describe the meaning of enabling recovery as experienced by young women following peer-perpetrated sexual violence.

Methods

A reflective lifeworld research approach was applied in this phenomenological study. Twelve young women, aged 17 to 25 years, participated in lifeworld interviews exploring the meaning of enabling recovery following peer-perpetrated sexual violence.

Results

The essential meaning of enabling recovery is described as: “By unveiling the hidden, the movement of life reclaims existence.” This is further described through the four constituents: Striking insight, A haven for rest, Existential safeness and Sharing one's story in a safe place. The enabling of recovery from peer-perpetrated sexual violence emerges as a dynamic movement that involves both physical and existential aspects. It emphasises that reclaiming one's existence requires a movement in life that strives to enhance well-being. Every element that contributes to this movement is interconnected, and no part can function in isolation from the others.

Conclusions

This study provides an in-depth understanding of how recovery is enabled following peer-perpetrated sexual violence. It highlights the long-term impact on young women's health and well-being and emphasises the importance of a lifeworld-led, recovery-oriented caring approach that addresses both physical and existential dimensions. Enabling recovery is understood as an interconnected and dynamic process of meaning-making, where uncovering lived experiences and supporting existential safeness and stillness help young women to reclaim their existence.

Abstract text:

Background: Experiencing breastfeeding problems can awaken a sense of existentialvulnerability. One of the more underdiagnosed breastfeeding problems is oversupply of breastmilk.While symptoms can vary, it is most common for the mother to experience leakage and a strongmilk ejection reflex; the mother can also experience continuous breast pain that can be both sharpand grinding. Oversupply of breastmilk is also a risk factor for lactation mastitis.

From a caring science perspective it is important to have knowledge about the mothers’ perspectiveto develop care that support and strengthen health. It is previously known that mothers with severeinitial breastfeeding difficulties are alone and exposed as a result of their suffering, and lack ofsufficient care. To the best of our knowledge there is a lack of research that enhance the depth ofphenomenon oversupply of breastmilk as experienced by breastfeeding mothers’. The current studyis therefore aimed at generating a deeper understanding and knowledge about the phenomenonoversupply of breastmilk as experienced by breastfeeding mothers’. Knowledge from the mothers’perspective may lead to an increased understanding from those who give breastfeeding support andhas the potential to develop care that meet the mothers’ existential needs.

Aim: The aim is to describe mothers lived experiences of oversupply of breastmilk duringbreastfeeding

Method: The phenomenological study was based on a reflective lifeworld research approachLifeworld interviews were conducted with 17 mothers with lived experience of oversupply ofbreastmilk during breastfeeding. The material is under analysis according to the reflective lifeworldresearch principles.

Result: The results and conclusions of the study are expected to be completed in the spring of 2025and will be presented at the conference. Preliminary results implies that the essential meaning of thephenomenon of oversupply of breastmilk during breastfeeding can be described as ‘An embodiedstruggle of visibility in all its invisibility.’ The embodied struggle of being visible in all itsinvisibility signifies a loss of agency as the body and breastmilk take over, exposing the mother in anunwanted way. 

Problem

Challenges faced during the initial phase of breastfeeding contribute significantly to the cessation of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers within the first 6 months. Therefore, evaluating these challenges from a psychological perspective has immense clinical and research importance.

Background

The Existential Breastfeeding Difficulty Scale (ExBreastS) is a self-reported questionnaire designed to assess the psychological challenges of mothers during early breastfeeding. Its reliability and validity has been tested in Sweden and Turkey based on the classical test theory.

Aim

This study aims to translate and culturally adapt the ExBreastS into Chinese, while incorporating the classical test theory and item response theory to comprehensively evaluate the scale’s psychometric properties.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. After completing the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the ExBreastS, 520 participants were recruited between January and April 2024. The participants, were 0-3 months postpartum, had singleton-term deliveries, were breastfeeding, and completed the Chinese version of the ExBreastS. Afterwards, the psychometric properties of the ExBreastS were thoroughly evaluated.

Findings

The Cronbach’s α coefficient for the ExBreastS was 0.884, with subscale coefficients ranging from 0.757 to 0.824. The difficulty parameters for each item ranged from –1.125 to 4.072, and the discrimination parameters ranged from 1.048 to 3.339. Furthermore, this scale exhibited substantial measurement information when latent trait levels were between –2 and 4.

Discussion and conclusion

The Chinese version of the ExBreastS is reliable for evaluating early breastfeeding challenges in mothers, and could aid healthcare professionals in screening and identifying mothers at risk of discontinuing breastfeeding.

Purpose

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during the breastfeeding period endangers women's health and well-being. From a caring science perspective, it may be understood as suffering, potentially reduced through caring. This study aims to describe the meaning of caring, as experienced by women exposed to IPV during the breastfeeding period.

Methods

Nine women with experience of IPV during the breastfeeding period participated in lifeworld interviews, analyzed phenomenologically following the methodological principles of reflective lifeworld research (RLR).

Results

Caring, as experienced by women exposed to IPV during the breastfeeding period, means a potential existential refuge, further described by the constituents: an encounter requiring mutual invitation and trust; an opportunity to rediscover oneself when reflected in another's gaze; being met with insight influences the experience of exposedness; the possibility to get a break from exposedness; and being alleviated from loneliness when confirmed.

Conclusions

For care to be caring in this context it needs to be lifeworld-led and based on insights into the existential situation of breastfeeding women exposed to IPV. Through an encounter of mutual invitation and trust, caring has the potential to be an existential refuge, enabling rest, confirmation, reflection and escape from loneliness.

Objective

In recent years, digital health interventions have increased in society. Swedish midwifery care is no exception, as digital solutions are increasingly being used during pregnancy and postpartum care for expectant and new parents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore midwives’ experiences of digital midwifery care and information during pregnancy and postpartum.

Methods

Focus groups and individual interviews were held with fourteen Swedish midwives working within antenatal care. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis.

Results

The results are presented in one overall theme: Digital Midwifery Care – Blurring boundaries and finding new paths for midwifery care, and three themes: Digital midwifery care is shaped by organizational prerequisites constraining and supporting; Digital midwifery care poses challenges establishing trustful relationships, and Digital midwifery care enhances accessibility, enabling participation.

Conclusion

Digital midwifery care is experienced by midwives as blurring the boundaries and finding new paths for midwifery care. Midwives negotiate with themselves, not losing the caring relationship as a core dimension of midwifery. Digital transformation within midwifery care has altered midwives’ way of working, and thus probably also their approach to caring.

Purpose

Many mothers face breastfeeding challenges that professional healthcare lacks the capacity to address, which can evoke exposedness and vulnerability. In Sweden, the non-profit Breastfeeding Support Organisation provide breastfeeding peer support. The aim is to deepen the understanding of the meaning of peer support caring, as experienced by breastfeeding peer support mothers.

Method

This study adopts a Reflective Lifeworld Research approach. Twelve lifeworld interviews with peer support mothers in the Swedish Breastfeeding Support Organisation was conducted.

Results

The essential meaning is described as an existential and embodied presence. This is further illuminated through the constituents; embodied knowing awakens caring, embracing the breastfeeding story, transcending time and space, being an anchored companion, and finding an authentic way of being.

Conclusions

Breastfeeding can evoke existential anxiety—feelings of homelessness and uncanniness—that awaken a desire for what Heidegger calls Care: a fundamental mode of being marked by engaged, reciprocal concern for existence. In this study, peer support caring is explored as a voluntary caregiving practice. When this practice embodies elements of Care, it becomes existential caring—a transferable form of care that fosters existential health and wellbeing, meaning and authenticity. Existential caring may enrich professional care, where structural limitations affect breastfeeding support.

Objective

Globally, the use of digital solutions in midwifery care, parental information, and antenatal classes is increasing. However, research on how these digital solutions function for mothers has not kept pace. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe expectant and new mothers’ experiences from digital midwifery care and information during pregnancy and postpartum.

Methods

This is a Swedish study with a qualitative method and an inductive approach. Twelve expectant and new mothers were individually interviewed, and data was analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

The results are presented in one overall theme: An ongoing Negotiation between digital and physical midwifery care is required to promote engagement and address needs, and three themes: A complement that creates flexibility but request balance; Enable participation and inclusion of partners, and The needs of being seen and heard are met to various extends.

Conclusion

While the flexibility offered through digital midwifery care and parental information is beneficial and facilitates convenience for mothers, digital midwifery care is not entirely interchangeable with physical midwifery care, including antenatal classes. An ongoing negotiation between digital and physical midwifery care is essential to achieve balanced midwifery care that addresses the unique, individual needs of mothers throughout different stages during pregnancy and postpartum.

Purpose

In Sweden, one in four young women has experienced peer-perpetrated sexual violence. This kind of violence causes significant suffering, negatively impacting health and well-being. This study explores young women’s lived experiences of peer-perpetrated sexual violence, aiming to deepen the understanding of how recovery and well-being can be supported.

Methods

This phenomenological study is based on a reflective lifeworld research approach. Lifeworld interviews with 12 young women (17–25 years old) with a lived experiences of peer-perpetrated sexual violence were conducted.

Results

The essential meaning of the phenomenon is described as “living in an invaded existence where an existential void arises and where the movement of life is disrupted.” This is further described as: existing in a body constantly under attack, viewing the body as an object, fighting an inner battle—a struggle for survival, silence as armour, and navigating a dangerous world.

Conclusions

Sexual violence disrupts life, creates existential wounds, alters young women, and reshapes their views of themselves and the world. For health care professionals, it is important to apply an existential caring approach, in which existential awareness is central to the ability to encounter these women in a unique and meaningful way.

Purpose

Intimate partner violence is a global health issue with physical, mental, and existential impacts. It affects women throughout their lives, including the breastfeeding period. Gaining an understanding of existential dimensions could potentially inspire individualized, health-oriented care. This study aims to explain and understand women’s lived experience of intimate partner violence during the breastfeeding period.

Methods

A lifeworld hermeneutic approach guided the interpretative analysis of nine lifeworld interviews and forty-nine written lifeworld stories of women exposed to intimate partner violence during breastfeeding.

Results

The interpretations show that intimate partner violence during the breastfeeding period means to breastfeed under attack in an objectified and provocative female body while feeling abandoned and entrapped in an incomprehensible reality. The interpretations are abstracted into a main interpretation: being forced into an existential exile that entails an ambiguous passive-active resistance.

Conclusions

Exposure to intimate partner violence during breastfeeding is a forced existential exile in a vulnerable situation. Women are forced into unauthentic lives, where their whole being is questioned, and active resistance is inhibited by limited freedom. Awareness of the lived experience of IPV during breastfeeding is essential for healthcare professionals to help reduce the suffering and enhance the health and well-being of women exposed to IPV.

Purpose

The aim of this study is to describe the essential meaning of the phenomenon of caring relationships in home care for older adults in Denmark, based on their lived experiences of caring relationships with home care nurses.

Methods

Ten older adults receiving home care from registered nurses were interviewed, and a phenomenological analysis was conducted according to the methodological principles of the reflective lifeworld research approach.

Results

The essential meaning of the phenomenon is described as “being in an in-between state in which one's existential freedom is enabled or restricted”. This involves being forced to relate and adapt to home care nurses as freedom givers or freedom takers. This is explored further in the three constituents; Space for authenticity and vulnerability, creating conditions for existential freedom, and being in an in-between space between knowing and not knowing.

Conclusions

The phenomenon of caring relationships adds an important aspect to understanding well-being in home care for older adults. To live well in old age, existential concerns must be placed at the core of caring and older adults must be given the possibility to act freely and authentically in order not to feel like an object of care.