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Giving birth. Perceptions of Finnish childbearing women
L C Callister1, K Vehvilainen-Julkunen, S Lauri
1College of Nursing, Brigham Young University, 500 SWKT, P.O. Box 25532, Provo, Utah 84602, USA. Lynn_Callister@byu.edu
Purpose:
To describe the lived experience of childbirth with women giving birth in Finland.
Design:
Phenomenology.
Methods:
Twenty Finnish women who had recently given birth were interviewed within 2 weeks following childbirth, sharing their perceptions of meaning of their childbirth experiences. Culturally appropriate strategies for qualitative data collection were employed. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured.
Results:
The richness and diversity of the childbirth experience emerged from the data. One theme identified was a sense of awe at the creation of a new life within the context of birth as a bittersweet paradox. A strong sense of maternal confidence or self-efficacy was identified, which influenced the women's perception of and management of childbirth pain. Feelings of self-actualization were articulated as Finnish women successfully negotiated a challenging life event.
Clinical Implications:
Perinatal nurses should increase their sensitivity to the socio-cultural context of giving birth by acknowledging women's experiences as legitimate sources of knowledge.