Midwives' Views and Experiences of Practice to Delivered in Water: A Qualitative Study

This study aimed to reveal the experiences of midwives who assisted women giving birth water.

A phenomenological design, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study that was conducted with freelance midwives between June and August 2023. The sample of the study consisted of 14 midwives who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the research. Data were collected face to face using a 'Descriptive Information Form' and a 'Semi-Structured Interview Form' and were analysed using the thematic analysis method and the MAXQDA Analytics Pro2020 software.

Midwives' narratives about water birth were grouped under three themes: water birth process, water birth team, and evaluation of water birth. The eight categories that made up these themes were conveniences, difficulties, characteristics of the team, equipment used during birth, difficulties in using the equipment, prenatal preparation, midwives' self-evaluations, and views about pregnant women's experiences.

According to this study, midwives talked more about the category of convenience than difficulties regarding the water birth process. It was determined that all midwives repeated the code of comforting the pregnant woman, which is in the convenience category under the theme of the water birth process. The most frequently stated difficulty was ensuring that the water was kept as clean as possible. Midwives reported that they most frequently observed that pregnant women gave birth more easily in water.