Patricia Gillen
Women and maternity care providers experiences of planned home birth in Northern Ireland: A descriptive survey
Gillen, Patricia; Bamidele, Olufikayo; Healy, Maria
Authors
Abstract
Background: Where a woman gives birth impacts both her postnatal outcomes and experiences. However, for women who plan home birth in Northern Ireland, their experiences and that of their maternity care providers are rarely sought. Aim: This study examined women's and maternity care providers’ experiences and perceptions of home birth service provision in Northern Ireland. Methods: Online surveys were used to investigate the experiences of women (n = 62) who had experienced a home birth or had a view on planned home birth and maternity care providers (n = 77) who offered home birth services in Northern Ireland between November 2018 and November 2020. The surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings: The women were all multigravida, with 39 experiencing a planned home birth and three having an intrapartum transfer. Most of the women (61.3 %; n = 38/62) knew about home birth services through social media or friends and 91% (n = 57/62) discussed their plans for home birth with their maternity care providers antenatally. Maternity care providers were mostly supportive (64.9 %; n = 50/77) of women having a choice about place of birth. Midwives were mostly confident (52 %; n = 13/25) or very confident (28 %; n = 7) about caring for women having a planned home birth but did not always feel supported by colleagues. Discussion: Most women rated their care as excellent or very good. Midwives reported limited support from colleagues for home birth provision. Conclusion: There is a need to support women in their birthplace choice and empower maternity care providers to facilitate this through a fully resourced home birth service infrastructure and collegial support.
Citation
Gillen, P., Bamidele, O., & Healy, M. (2023). Women and maternity care providers experiences of planned home birth in Northern Ireland: A descriptive survey. Women and Birth, 36(4), e412-e420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2023.01.005
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 23, 2023 |
Online Publication Date | Feb 3, 2023 |
Publication Date | Jul 1, 2023 |
Deposit Date | Feb 17, 2023 |
Publicly Available Date | Jun 9, 2023 |
Journal | Women and Birth |
Print ISSN | 1871-5192 |
Electronic ISSN | 1878-1799 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 36 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | e412-e420 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2023.01.005 |
Keywords | Planned home birth; Childbirth; Pregnancy; Maternity care providers; Mixed methods |
Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4202237 |
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Files
Published article
(831 Kb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian College of Midwives. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
You might also like
A Scoping Review of Stigma Related to Prostate Cancer in Black Men
(2024)
Journal Article
A scoping review of risk-stratified bowel screening: current evidence, future directions
(2022)
Journal Article