What women undergo after birth
Introduction
The experience that women undergo after birth has left them in distress, but little research has been done regarding these emotions. While some women have indicated that the childbirth experience was negative, others indicate that it was traumatic. In her article, Jackie Baxter’s main aim is exploring reasons why some women may come out of the birth experience with distress emotions. The findings presented by Baxter are based on a wider MMR study related to the topic of postnatal. MMR study was undertaken to establish the reasons why particular groups of women failed to use or accessed postnatal debriefing services. In addition, the study explored the feelings of women after birth. This article critique will indicate how Baxter has completed her work and how effective she has met the objectives of the study besides the relevance of the article in modern times.
Summary
This article indicates that when women reflected on their birth, it assisted them to consider their individual conditions. The study conducted by a mixed methods research was performed with the objective of investigating why some women choose to attend or not to attend the birth reflections services. Baxter has utilized the research made by various researchers. The aim of this article is to determine why some groups of women attended postnatal debriefing services. In addition, the author clearly indicates a detailed description of the services offered to women.
The study entailed the recruitment of 16 women who were given semi-structured extensive interviews. The study identified three themes that were used to achieve the findings. These themes included giving birth as horrific or traumatic, lasting emotions associated with the birth procedure, and implications of the health professional on women’s experience of giving birth. Almost half of the women used the term horrific or traumatic while describing their birth experiences. Some participants also indicated that the coming of doctors into the room was traumatic.
Critique
One of the major strengths of this article is that it has included the abstract section that indicates the key issues that are covered by the author. For example, before reading the article, the audience is exposed to background information, aims of the study, methods of research used, findings, and the conclusion. To make the article provide reliable information, the author has used researches conducted by other people. For example, the author has included studies conducted by Hodnett (2002), Waldenstrom, and colleagues (2004), Storksen et al., 2013, and Fenwick et al., 2013.
The study used mixed method research involving quantitative and qualitative methods. The use of quantitative methods helped the researcher to understand the women’s understanding of birth reflections and the type of services offered. On the other hand, the qualitative method helped the researcher to explore the experiences of women while in labor or to give birth. The main sample was attained using the quantitative method and consisted of 447 women, which was adequate to come up with reliable findings. The use of written consent was a major ethical issue covered by this study. Before the interviews were conducted, the women were provided with an information sheet, and they were reminded that they were participating as volunteers (Jackie, 2020). The author has used table 1 titled as details of participants interviewed. The main issues covered by the table are participant number, previous births, methods of birth, age, and attended births reflection service.
Conclusion
The article has provided important and reliable information that can be used by other researchers to identify the traumatic experiences women undergo during labor or giving birth. The author has based her findings on extensive information from other sources. Besides, the study has indicated the need for further research. In particular, the author indicates that it is vital to undertake additional research on the area of emotional safety.
References
Jackie, B. (2020).An exploration of reasons why some women may leave the birth experience with emotional distress. British Journal of Midwifery, Vol 28, No 1. file:///C:/Users/express/Downloads/730_women%20may%20leave%20the%20birth%20with%20emotional%20distress.pdf