[Offering a hand to new parents: listening or informing?]

Nurses working in the perinatal field have a variety of objectives, one of which is helping new parents feel competent in their new role. Recognizing parents' potential and offering them the support they need to realize it is one of the strategies suggested by the Department of Health and Social Services (MSSS, 1991 and 1992a). In order to identify aspects of nursing interventions at the time of the post-natal visit that promote parental skills, the authors conducted research into the concept of empowerment. Following an in-depth survey of the literature on this concept, they came up with a definition of interventions promoting empowerment, and used this definition as the basis for their analysis of perinatal nurse-client relations. The study, subsidized by the Fondation de recherche en sciences infirmières du Québec (FRESIQ), was carried out between 1993 and 1995 in four CLSCs in the Eastern Townships region. Thirteen nurses agreed to record their conversations with first-time parents during 20 postnatal visits.