Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Morris, Sara
• Geraghty, Sadie
• Sundin, Deborah

Titel

Women’s experiences of breech birth and disciplinary power

Ist Teil von

• Journal of advanced nursing, 2021-07, Vol.77 (7), p.3116-3131

Ort / Verlag

England: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

Wiley-Blackwell Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Aims To explore women's experiences of breech pregnancy and birth to identify areas in practice for improvement. Design A descriptive exploratory study was conducted involving 20 women who had experienced a breech birth between 2013 and 2018. Methods Semi‐structured interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were examined using a free‐form ‘circling and parking’ style of analysis. Foucault's concepts of power/knowledge were utilized to describe existing power relations. Results Women experienced varying degrees of disciplinary power throughout their experiences. Knowledge was used as a means of enforcing disciplinary power by some clinicians and by women to ‘arm’ themselves and ‘fight’ to regain what they perceived as a loss of power and autonomy. Midwives were seen as navigators of a restrictive, medicalized healthcare system. Conclusion By better understanding the power dynamics which exist as well as the stages women go through when experiencing a breech presentation, there remains the potential to identify areas in practice which need improving, and aid clinicians in better supporting women through what can be a very difficult time.