Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lemay, Celine

Titel

Être là»: Étude du phénomène de la pratique sage-femme au Québec dans les années 1970–1980

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This study explores the meaning of the phenomenon of midwifery practice in Québec. After legalization of midwifery in 1999, it was acknowledged that the midwifery practice was, in spite of available information, misunderstood. There was a need to explore the world of midwives to reveal its meanings and to understand what it is like to practice midwifery. The question that was asked was: How can we understand midwifery practice from the lived experience of midwives who were practicing before legalization in Quebec? A qualitative approach was chosen to fully answer the research question. Heidegger's hermeneutical phenomenology and Ricoeur's philosophy as well as the methodology of M. van Manen were used to explore the internal meaning structures within the world of midwives. The lived experience of 15 midwives, who practiced before the 1999 legalization of midwifery in Quebec, was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The analysis was done through writing and re-writing.Themes were like "clearings" so as to "see" the structures of meaning underlying the lived experience of practicing midwives. Some of the themes that were discovered were: being called, being there for each woman, taking time…and space, being there to welcome the newborn, knowing how to help by doing nothing, "be ready", learning and understanding together, develop complicity and building a midwife presence in Québec. A very important theme was: "holding the space", meaning that being a midwife is "being a guardian of the possibilities", "being a guardian of the mystery", and "being a guardian of the passage". Finally, the essential structure of the experience of midwifery practice was: "being there".Hermeneutic does not pretend to generate theories but it is essentially a practical philosophy where knowledge is given a direction. In a context dominated by medical, technoscientific and evidence based practice, the findings of this study were considered as an invitation to explore new possibilities for midwives. First, we will talk of maieutic, a dialogic approach to knowledge and understanding, will be discussed and then, phronesis or practical wisdom, hermeneutical enterprise which is a way to mediate between the universal and the particular, will be discussed. It involves deliberation and decision in relation to a singular situation, leading to ethical choices. In the conclusion, all the potential for emancipation for midwives will be presented.