Women's experience of planned home birth: a phenomenological study.

Margaret Ng, Marlene Sinclair

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a phenomenological study seeking to understand women's lived experience of planned home birth 'likened to climbing a mountain'. A purposive sample of nine women provided detailed birth narratives and these were analysed using the Giorgio method. Findings led to the identification of eight essential themes: the logical and instrinsic nature of the decision to undertake the climb, a positive perspective on outcome of the climb, requirements for the actual climb, approaching the summit (labour) reaching the peak (birth) celebration at the end of the climb and finally, triumph over the mountain. Birth at home was best illustrated by using the metaphor of ' a woman climbing a mountain', as this symbolized the lived experience of planned home birth for women in this study.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)56-59
JournalRCM Midwives
Volume5
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Feb 2002

Keywords

  • homebirth
  • phenomenology
  • metaphor

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