To Örebro University

Support in labor has impact on the childbirth experience as well as on childbirth outcomes. Both social and professional support is needed. The aim of this study was to explore midwifery professional support during labor in relation to the needs of the woman and her partner. A qualitative descriptive design using triangulation with observation followed by interviews were chosen. Seven midwives were observed when caring for seven women/couples in labor. After the observations individual interviews with midwives, women and their partner was conducted. Data was analyzed using hermeneutical text interpretation. The results is presented with three themes; 1) Support as professional task seems unclear and less well-defined than medical controls, 2) Midwives and parents express somewhat different supportive ideas about how to create a sense of security and 3) Partner and midwife interacting in support of the woman. The main interpretation show that midwives supportive role during labor could be understood as them mainly adopting the “with institution” ideology in contrast to the “with woman” ideology. This may increase the risk of women and their partner perceiving lack of support during labor. The organization need to increase efficiency by providing support for professionals to adopt the “with woman” ideology.