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Palandri, Loreli

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to assess nurses’ perspectives of their influence on how a patient birth’s their baby, whether that is a vaginal or via cesarean section. Though c-sections are a medical necessity in approximately 10% of births (WHO, 2015), it has become a mode of birth for more than a quarter of Canadian births (CIHI, 2021). The reasons for operative births are varied and are the result of many intersecting contextual and interpersonal factors. One of these intersecting factors is the role of the care providers, in particular nurses. Nurses play a key role on labour and birth units throughout Canada (Evans et al, 2015), and likely influence decisions about labour and birth, and eventual outcomes. This study utilized the Interpretive Description method, to interview nine nurses of varying labour and birth expertise level and asked them questions relating to their thoughts on birthing practices and how they perceive they do or do not influence their patients. Three intersecting contexts were identified that the participants perceived influenced their labour and birth care and birth outcomes: societal context, practice context, and interpersonal context. While these three contexts were evident in the data, they were not mutually exclusive. The current societal discourse that surrounds women’s empowerment, which pushes for freedom of choice above all else, was highlighted in this study. The participants felt it a top priority to navigate this social discourse and ensure that birthing people felt fulfilled and happy with their birth, regardless of the mode. The findings highlight nurses’ perceptions of the need to navigate what they know to be evidence-based care with these societal pressures, and the nurses that participated in this study demonstrated how this can be hard at times. These nurses noted that their work is about ensuring that birth is within the domain of choice and control, and that the birther was healthy, safe, and content with their eventual birth outcomes.

Text

2023-01-31

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/80397

Nursing

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/