To Örebro University

Mothers’ perception of their relationship with their baby might affect sensitive parenting. This study aimed to explore first time mothers’ feelings for and their relation to the baby associated with how they responded to the “mother to infant relation and feelings (MIRF) scale” as a step in the validation process of the scale. Interviews with ten first-time mothers, three days after birth, were performed, using open questions followed by questions directly from the MIRF scale items. An inductive and deductive approach inspired by the “Think aloud” method guided the study. Results describe main category; New mothers bewilderment and anticipation which contained four categories; Natural and great but mixed, Maternal instinct and kinship, Ability and expectations and Not yet for real. When mothers responded to MIRF scale items they describe talking to their baby which they did not in their open answers. Answering the MIRF scale helped mothers in differentiating between their own mixed feelings of becoming mothers and their relation to and feelings for the baby. The MIRF scale appears valid in reflecting important aspects of mothers’ feelings for and relation to their baby. The MIRF scale could be used in research and when evaluating care routines as well as in dialogue with new mothers to support mother-to-infant interactions. 

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Aim

to explore and describe the student midwife's experiences in offering continuous labour support. 

Design

a qualitative research design was chosen. Each student midwife offered continuous labour support to five women/couples and wrote narratives about each of these occasions. Written narratives from 11 student midwives were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Findings

when student midwives offer continuous labour support to women/couples, they try to establish rapport. When this works, their presence, their sense of confidence and their ability to offer reassurance increase. If establishing rapport does not work, students experience a sense of powerlessness, a need for reassurance and a lack of confidence. Key conclusions offering continuous labour support to women and/or their partners made the students aware of the importance of establishing rapport, and it made them realise the impact that their mere presence in the room could have. The students had a need for reassurance which could hamper their efforts to establish rapport. Experiencing a lack of confidence made students focus more strongly on their clinical skills and on their perceived role as a student midwife.Implications for practice this study can initiate discussions about how student midwives learn to be supportive, as well as about the role models that students encounter during their clinical training in Sweden.

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.

Background

Cesarean birth may negatively affect mother-infant interactions, while professional support may positively affect these interactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a process-oriented training program for antenatal midwives and postnatal nurses on first time mothers’ perceptions of professional support and on their relation to and feelings for their baby after a cesarean or a normal birth.

Methods

An intervention through process-oriented training for health professionals regarding professional support in childbearing was conducted between 1999 and 2003. Ten municipalities were paired and within each pair, randomly assigned to intervention (five)or control (five) municipality. Mothers having caesarean (n = 94) or normal birth (n = 301) were included. Mothers received routine care (control group = CG) or care from health professionals having received training (intervention group = IG). The mothers answered questionnaires three days, three and nine months after birth. Factor analysis identified three factors: “Taking in baby,” “Confidence in relation to baby,” and “Feelings for baby.”

Results

Mothers in the IG with cesarean birth reported more positive for the “Taking inbaby” factor (p = 0.002) three days after birth, more positive for the “Confidence inrelation to baby” factor (p = 0.004) and for the “Feelings for baby” factor (p = 0.004) nine months after birth compared to Mothers in the CG. Mothers in the IG reported stronger professional support from health professionals compared to CG.

Trial registrations: ACTRN12611000354987