First-time couples' shared experiences of the birth environment

This study aimed to explore both mothers' and fathers' lived experiences of the birth environment. Objectives were set to explore how the physical, psychosocial, spiritual and cultural environment during labor, influence the parents' birth experience, and to delve into the similarities and differences between mothers' and fathers' views and experiences of the birth environment.

The study adopted an interpretive phenomenological research design. A purposive homogenous sample of seven couples was recruited from the main local public hospital in Malta. Data were collected using one-time, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with each couple. The birth territory theory by Fahy guided this study and interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze, interpret and elicit the meanings that participants attributed to their experiences of the birth environment.

Three super-ordinate themes emerged from the data: 'The home-hospital gap', 'Midwifery care' and 'Movement in labor'. A conflict between the comfort of home and home-like aesthetics, and the reassuring, but foreign, clinical environment and medical equipment, was felt by mothers and fathers. The midwife was a fundamental part of the birth environment for the parents, taking precedence over the physical environment. Movement in labor was important to mothers while fathers became more involved when mothers were mobile during labor. The birth environment consisted of facilitating and impeding factors to movement, which made an impact on the parents' experiences.

Mothers and fathers experienced the birth environment from different perspectives. However, they have indicated similar needs and desires from the birth environment, creating a shared experience.