Psychosocial support by midwives of women with a fear of childbirth. A study of 80 women
Engelsk titel: Psychosocial support by midwives of women with a fear of childbirth. A study of 80 women
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Författare:
Helk A
;
Spilling HS
;
Smeby NA
Email: annette.helk@uus.no
Språk: Eng
Antal referenser: 14
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
UI-nummer: 08113368
Sammanfattning
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the work performed by the Gaia Group midwives at a maternity unit in Oslo, Norway, and to gain more knowledge about women with an abnormal fear of childbirth. Since 1996 Gaia midwives have offered individual counselling to women with severe fear of childbirth. A self-report questionnaire was developed based on the written objectives of the Gaia initiative, as well as earlier studies about women suffering from fear of childbirth. The subjects were the first 100 Norwegian-speaking candidates to respond, and 80 (80%) replied. We found that 51% assessed themselves as having been troubled with fear prior to their most recent pregnancy. On average the women had 2.8 Gaia sessions. A total of 63% reported that they had negative feelings and expectations in regard to the upcoming birth prior to the pregnancy, while at full term the figure was reduced to 45%. In other studies, women have been found to rank «insufficient confidence in health personnel's willingness and capability to provide help» as the most prevalent fear. Not so in our study where they felt they received help. Birth plans written down along with other things they wanted the midwives to know about ahead of time and postnatal sessions were confirmed as very useful. The overall rating was very high concerning satisfaction with the Gaia intervention.