Sue,
Could you give us the demographics of your study sample? Your findings are critical to this on-going issue of c sections as if they are an equal substitute for a spontantous vaginal birth.
Thanks, Pat
Patricia Burkhardt, CNM, DrPH
NYU Midwifery Program Coordinator
Tel: 212 998-5895
Fax: 212 995-4679
----- Original Message -----
From: Matt Fenwick <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 9:54 am
Subject: CS and social pathology
> I am currently in the final stages of a qualitative study using
> Grounded Theory on women's experience of caesarean section. You
> may be interested in some of the key themes to emerge from
> analysis of the data.
> I interviewed first time mothers who had experienced an emergency
> caesarean. I also interviewed second time mothers who had either a
> trial of labour or an elective CS.
>
> Most of women said that they 'expected the normal' and emergency
> CS left them with feelings of disappointment, sometimes anger and
> feelings of failure. Women felt they had missed out on normal
> birth. Women in this study associated 'normal birth' as 'part of
> being a woman' ; a 'normal process' and one that they expected.
> Birth is seen as a 'rite of passage' I have used inverted commas
> to indicate codes identified in the data. 'Feelings of failure'
> were linked to a sense of the 'failing body' and 'failing as a
> mother' because they had found caring for a newborn baby difficult
> after CS.
>
> Another theme to emerge from the data was that of 'being in
> control'. First time mothers who experienced an emergency CS
> described how they had lost control over the birth process.
> Second time mothers describe how their experience of previous CS
> impacts upon their decision making in a subsequent pregnancy.
> Regaining control is an important theme in this study because
> women who chose a trial of labour saw this as a way of regaining
> control. However, women who opted for an elective CS also saw
> this as regaining control. Women who chose to have a CS did so
> because they would 'be prepared', it meant 'minimizing
> uncertainty' and 'avoiding an emergency'. Women feared going
> through labour only to end up with another CS.
>
> Other themes in this study reflect the 'reality of caesarean' and
> the impact it has on women's lives. Women describe their
> interaction with care givers and others in their kinship network.
> For example,
> Women feel their is a lack of support for women who experience CS
> from professionals. Women are critical of the care they receive
> on the postnatal ward. They feel that midwives forget they have
> experienced major abdominal surgery. Some women feel they need for
> care and attention but many are too frightened to ask, or don't
> want to take up the midwives time. Women have unanswered questions
> about the decision to do the CS. Women also feel they are
> 'different' from women who have a normal delivery. This can lead
> to a sense of isolation and exclusion from 'normal mothers'.
>
> It must be said that all women have a negative view of CS and the
> care they received and this is documented in the thesis. In this
> study women tell their stories of CS. This provides an insight
> into the lived experience of CS and implications for transition to
> motherhood.
> Sue Fenwick
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