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Concurrent analysis of choice and control in childbirth

Snowden, Austyn; Martin, Caroline H.; Jomeen, Julie; Martin, Caroline Hollins

Authors

Austyn Snowden

Caroline H. Martin

Julie Jomeen

Caroline Hollins Martin



Abstract

Background: This paper reports original research on choice and control in childbirth. Eight women were interviewed as part of a wider investigation into locus of control in women with pre-labour rupture of membranes at term (PROM) 1.Methods: The following study uses concurrent analysis to sample and analyse narrative aspects of relevant literature along with these interviews in order to synthesise a generalisable analysis of the pertinent issues. The original PROM study had found that women experienced a higher degree of control in hospital, a finding that appeared at odds with contemporary notions of choice. However, this paper contextualises this finding by presenting narratives that lucidly subscribe to the dominant discourse of hospital as the safest place to give birth, under the premise of assuring a live healthy baby irrespective of their management type.Results: This complex narrative is composed of the following themes: 'perceiving risk', 'being prepared', 'reflecting on experience', maintaining control' and relinquishing control'. These themes are constructed within and around the medical, foetocentric, risk averse cultural context. Primary data are presented throughout to show the origins and interconnected nature of these themes.Conclusions: Within this context it is clear that there is a highly valued role for competent health professionals that respect, understand and are capable of facilitating genuine choice for women. © 2011 Snowden et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Citation

Snowden, A., Martin, C. H., Jomeen, J., & Martin, C. H. (2011). Concurrent analysis of choice and control in childbirth. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-11-40

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 1, 2011
Online Publication Date Jun 1, 2011
Publication Date May 20, 2011
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Publicly Available Date Nov 13, 2014
Journal BMC pregnancy and childbirth
Print ISSN 1471-2393
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-11-40
Keywords Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/462912
Publisher URL http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/11/40
Additional Information Copy of article published in BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2011 at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/11/40
Contract Date Nov 13, 2014

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Copyright Statement
© 2011 Snowden et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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