Dear All,
My name is Sue Fenwick and I am in the process of
writing up the findings of a research project. It is a qualitative study using
the Grounded Theory method looking at womens experience of caesarean
section. The following is a VERY brief summary.
Sample included (primiparous) who had an
emergency section, multigravida who were VBAC and those who opted for CS
following previous CS.
I wanted to explore the social, psychological and
cultural context of CS against the background of increasing rates of caesarean
section in the UK.
The key theme to emerge was for some women a
caesarean section makes status passage to motherhood more complex. Inter-related
themes include
feeling a failure, being different, expecting the
normal.
In the elective CS group the key theme to emerge
was Being in Control which was underpinned by categories such
as being prepared, avoiding uncertainty,
avoiding an emergency. Opting for an elective
caesarean depends very much on previous experience.
In the VBAC group control was also important
e.g. regaining control.
None of the women in this study opted for
elective CS based solely on maternal request.
This reserach does not support the current
discourse that maternal request is a major cause of increasing rates of CS as
some obstetricians suggest.
Regards
Sue
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 9:54
PM
Subject: Re: Study in to why women choose
caesarean section
In a message dated 04/02/03 15:00:04 GMT Standard
Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
vaginal birth next pregnancy and has commented on the effect
that the words
"trial of labour" have on her now. she feels the phrase is
very negative and
does not inspire her with great confident that she will
manage. her comment
is she doesn't want to try she wants to achieve. it
just made me reflect on
the power of language and how what we say can
affect others.
I totally agree - I've just looked at
our local guidelines for 'VBAC' - once the decision is made to 'go for normal
birth' the terminology turns into 'trial of scar' - terrible! I wonder
what this does for women's (& midwives) confidence
Sue