ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2035-504X
Current Organisation
University of Western Sydney Parramatta Campus
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2003
DOI: 10.1016/S0266-6138(03)00037-8
Abstract: To describe the baby-feeding decisions of a group of Australian women prior to birth. A qualitative study using face-to-face in depth interviews was undertaken with 29 women. All interviews were audio-tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The women observed and sought information from a variety of sources as well as exploring their own understandings of themselves and their breasts. Based on this knowledge the women made their antenatal baby-feeding decisions. These baby-feeding decisions grouped into four thematic groups, 'assuming I'll breast feed' 'definitely going to breast feed' 'playing it by ear' and 'definitely going to bottle feed'. Each of these standpoints was associated with, and precipitated a number of behaviours and strategies. The findings of this research highlight the need for antenatal educators and midwives who provide care in pregnancy to acknowledge a range of experiences and expectations of women and to provide erse educational opportunities to meet a range of needs. There is a need for further research to identify how midwives can encourage and assist women to explore and challenge their assumptions about breast feeding as they relate to other aspects of their lives.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2019
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-05-2013
Abstract: Research indicates that multiple factors are associated with decisions women make about infant feeding, yet few studies have explored the decision-making process. In this article, we present the analysis that produced the core category “deconstructing best,” previously reported as part of a grounded theory exploring 37 Australian women’s infant feeding experiences and decisions in the first 6 weeks postbirth. We expand on the previous article by detailing and discussing the phases of the infant feeding decision-making process in relation to decision-making theory. Analysis demonstrates the importance of these early weeks in shaping women’s infant feeding trajectories. Findings illustrate that information gathering encompassing multiple factors occurred at this time, and that complex and often competing goals were involved in the women’s decisions. We suggest that acknowledging and assisting women to meet alternate goals in the postbirth period might help them meet their breastfeeding goals.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WOMBI.2021.08.001
Abstract: Admission to the Bachelor of Midwifery (BMid) in Australia has traditionally been based on academic ranking. The BMid is a high demand course offered to a limited number of students and therefore choosing applicants who complete the degree is important. Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) are used to assess non-cognitive skills and select students into healthcare degrees. One university in Australia has introduced MMIs as part of the application process for the BMid. Compare attrition rates and Grade Point Average (GPA) scores between students admitted into the BMid using both academic ranking and MMIs, to those admitted on academic ranking alone. A basic convergent mixed methods design, using an explanatory unidirectional framework to integrate data. Attrition rates, GPA, and multiple mini interview scores (2013-2019), were linked and compared for before and after the use of MMI's. Focus groups with students, interviewers, and hospital-based educators, explored stakeholder experiences. Open-ended questions from an applicant survey were added to the qualitative data set, which was analysed thematically. Students who enrolled via the MMI's had significantly lower attrition rates than those enrolled before MMI's were introduced. GPA scores were significantly higher for students who enrolled via the MMI's. Integration of data found MMI's identified students passionate to undertake midwifery, and that success at the interviews increased students' confidence to successfully complete their studies. MMI's as part of the entry process into the BMid enabled identification of applicants more likely to remain in the course and succeed in their studies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2001
Publisher: Springer New York
Date: 27-09-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.WOMBI.2014.05.005
Abstract: Implementation of the Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) is associated with increases in breastfeeding initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding and 'any' breastfeeding. However, implementation of the BFHI is challenging. To identify and synthesise health care staff perceptions of the WHO/UNICEF BFHI and identify facilitators and barriers for implementation. Seven qualitative studies, published between 2003 and 2013 were analysed using meta-ethnographic synthesis. Three overarching themes were identified. First the BFHI was viewed variously as a 'desirable innovation or an unfriendly imposition'. Participants were passionate about supporting breastfeeding and improving consistency in the information provided. This view was juxtaposed against the belief that BFHI represents an imposition on women's choices, and is a costly exercise for little gain in breastfeeding rates. The second theme highlighted cultural and organisational constraints and obstacles to BFHI implementation including resource issues, entrenched staff practices and staff rationalisation of non-compliance. Theme three captured a level of optimism and enthusiasm amongst participants who could identify a dedicated and credible leader to lead the BFHI change process. Collaborative engagement with all key stakeholders was crucial. Health care staff hold variant beliefs and attitudes towards BFHI, which can help or hinder the implementation process. The introduction of the BFHI at a local level requires detailed planning, extensive collaboration, and an enthusiastic and committed leader to drive the change process. This synthesis has highlighted the importance of thinking more creatively about the translation of this global policy into effective change at the local level.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-03-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2010.10.018
Abstract: To explore the challenges of conducting an observational study of postnatal interactions, between midwives and women, when the researcher was a midwife observing in familiar midwifery settings. Participant observation conducted by researchers who are themselves midwives raises questions regarding the influence of 'identity' and 'insider' knowledge on the conduct of such projects. The insider/outsider status of researchers has been explored in other disciplines, yet this is an area which is underdeveloped in the midwifery literature where few attempts have been made to subject this issue to sustained analysis. A qualitative study (investigating the provision of breast-feeding support in the first week after birth) provided the opportunity for reflexive exploration of the tensions faced by midwife researchers. Two maternity units in New South Wales, Australia. Participants included 40 midwives and 78 breast-feeding women. Possessing 'insider' midwifery knowledge was advantageous in the 'getting in' and 'fitting in' phases of this research study however unanticipated role ambiguity, and moral and ethical challenges, arose as a result of this 'insider' knowledge and status. Prolonged periods of observation challenged the midwife researcher's preconceived ideas and early decisions about the advantages and disadvantages of being an 'insider' or an 'outsider' in the research setting. Reflexive analysis of insider/outsider experiences revealed the middle ground which participant observers tend to navigate. Whilst professional insider knowledge and status offered many advantages, especially at the first study setting, some of the inherent embodied, and socially constructed features of the 'midwife' observer role, were unanticipated. Cultural competence, in these observational study settings, translated into role ambiguity, and at times, culturally entrenched role expectations. Midwifery observation of clinical practice, for research, or practice development purposes, requires a degree of juggling of insider knowledge to facilitate observation and analysis. Prior to conducting observations midwives should consider how best to occupy the middle ground between insider and outsider. Within the middle ground the midwife can draw on those aspects of 'self' required to negotiate respectful relationships with colleagues, whilst also ensuring the maintenance of an analytical degree of distancing.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2005.12.003
Abstract: To explore the relationships between maternal distress, breast feeding cessation, breast feeding problems and breast feeding maternal role attainment. Longitudinal cohort study. Three urban hospitals within Sydney, Australia. 449 women were invited to participate in the study, with an 81% response rate. Self-report questionnaires were used to collect the data in pregnancy (28-36 weeks) and 2 weeks and 3 months after birth. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to measure postnatal distress, and the Maternal Role Attainment subscale (MRA) of the Maternal Breast Feeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES) was used to measure breast feeding maternal role attainment. Women with high MRA were less likely to stop breast feeding (even when they had breast feeding problems) than women with low MRA. Antenatal EPDS and anxiety scores were not related to breast feeding cessation or breast feeding problems when analysed alone. As hypothesised, the relationship between breast feeding cessation and postnatal distress (EPDS scores) varied according to MRA level. Women who were categorised as high MRA and no longer breast feeding had higher EPDS scores and were more likely to be categorised as distressed (36%) than women who had low MRA (<12%) or women who had high MRA and continued to breast feed (7%). There is a complex relationship between maternal identity, stopping breast feeding earlier than desired, and psychological distress. Women with strong beliefs about the importance of breast feeding to their maternal role may benefit from psychological assessment and support should they decide to stop breast feeding earlier.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-01-2015
Abstract: To explore inhibiting and facilitating design factors influencing childbirth supporters’ experiences. Birthing women benefit from the continuous, cooperative presence of supporters. However, little research has investigated how birth room design facilitates or inhibits supporters’ role navigation. We conducted an exploratory video ethnographic single case study of childbirth supporters’ experiences, within an Australian hospital birth environment. Video, field notes, and video-cued reflexive interviews with the woman, her midwives, and supporters were thematically analyzed using ethnographic/symbolic interactionist perspectives to frame supporters’ understandings. Findings suggest supporters’ experiences are complex, made more complicated by sparse understanding or accommodation of their needs in the built environment. Supporters’ presence and roles are not facilitated by the physical space they experience “an unbelonging paradox” of being needed, yet uncertain and “in the way” during “tenuous nest-building” activities. Suggested design guidelines to facilitate supporters’ well-being and their roles in designed hospital birth spaces are provided.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-11-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEPR.2015.12.003
Abstract: Simulated teaching methods enable a safe learning environment that are structured, constructive and reflective. We prepared a 2-day simulation project to help prepare students for their first clinical practice. A quasi-experimental pre-test - post-test design was conducted. Qualitative data from the open-ended survey questions were analysed using content analysis. Confidence intervals and p-values were calculated to demonstrate the changes in participants' levels of understanding/ability or confidence in clinical midwifery skills included in the simulation. 71 midwifery students participated. Students rated their understanding, confidence, and abilities as higher after the simulation workshop, and higher still after their clinical experience. There were five main themes arising from the qualitative data: having a learning experience, building confidence, identifying learning needs, developing communication skills and putting skills into practise. First year midwifery students felt well prepared for the clinical workplace following the simulation workshops. Self-rated understanding, confidence and abilities in clinical midwifery skills were significantly higher following consolidation during clinical placement. Longitudinal studies on the relationship between simulation activities and student's overall clinical experience, their intentions to remain in midwifery, and facility feedback, would be desirable.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEDT.2012.04.005
Abstract: Spiritual care is an important component of holistic care. In Australia competency statements relating to nursing practice emphasise the need to provide care that addresses the spiritual as well as other aspects of being. However, many nurses feel they are poorly prepared to provide spiritual care. This is attributed largely to lack a of spiritual care education provided in undergraduate nursing programmes. A few higher education providers have responded to this lack of spiritual care education by incorporating specific content related to this area into their undergraduate nursing programme. Minimal international studies have investigated the impact of spiritual care education on undergraduate nursing students and no Australian studies were identified. This review explores spiritual care education in undergraduate nursing programmes and identifies the need for an Australian study.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2648.2009.05194.X
Abstract: This paper is a report of a grounded theory study of woman's infant feeding experiences and decisions in the first 6 weeks after birth. Breastfeeding is considered the optimum method of infant feeding. Studies have identified numerous factors associated with infant feeding decisions. What remains unexplored are the mechanisms by which socio-demographic, biomedical and psychosocial factors influence infant feeding decisions. Research highlights the need for further investigation of the experiences and decision-making processes of both breastfeeding and formula-feeding women. A constructionist grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis was used. Data for this study were collected and analysed between 2003 and 2004. Further data, collected in a previous study in 2000, were theoretically s led and analysed in 2005. In-depth interviews with 37 women from various socio-demographic areas in New South Wales, Australia provided data. The core category was 'deconstructing best'. 'Deconstructing best' was the infant feeding decision-making process in the first 6 weeks after birth. The process of 'deconstructing best' involved seven phases: planning, expecting, realizing, questioning, getting on with it, defending and qualifying. Four main categories -'it's really best to breastfeed', 'it's the unknown', 'it's not the only thing going on', and 'everybody's best is different'- comprised the context within which deconstructing best occurred. Woman's infant feeding decisions cannot be viewed in isolation from other post-natal experiences and needs. Infant feeding decisions will only be understood and appropriately supported when they are seen in relation to the circumstances of a woman's life, her immediate sociocultural context and in idual experience.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-05-2013
DOI: 10.1111/JOCN.12224
Abstract: To describe the use of family conversations as a data collection strategy in a study that aimed to explore how 'social context' impacts on the infant feeding and early parenting choices of first-time mothers. Specifically, the authors aim to describe the challenges and benefits of facilitating 'family conversations' and the importance of considering the needs of the researcher and the research participants in the data collection process. Breastfeeding is endorsed by the World Health Organisation as a key health promotion strategy, and yet many women in Australia cease breastfeeding (either fully or partially) before the recommended time frame of six months. Engaging with and interviewing families is a well-established research strategy, but interviewing the family as a whole has rarely been used as a part of breastfeeding research. A component of a study, conducted in Sydney, Australia, was to use 'family conversations' to ascertain the views and beliefs that are held by those in the first-time mother's social network and how these impact on her experience of mothering and associated decision-making. Being able to balance the needs of the researcher and the research participants is an important challenge that is a core component of conducting ethical research. This paper highlights the viability of 'family conversations' as a data collection method for midwifery and nursing research and the need for midwives and child and family health nurses to more actively engage with a woman's support network with education and other strategies to assist in creating an environment for new mothers that is conducive to the continuation of breastfeeding and thriving as a mother.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WOMBI.2021.10.007
Abstract: Good mentoring is important for students to support their adjustment to and learning in the clinical environment. The quality of the mentoring relationship is key for students but there is a lack of evidence explaining how a good mentor/mentee relationship establishes and develops over time. To explore the developing relationship between mentors and mentees participating in a structured midwifery mentoring program in one Local Health District in Sydney, Australia. A qualitative interpretive descriptive research design was utilised. Data were collected using 10 focus groups with midwife mentors (n = 31) and seven focus groups and four interviews with Bachelor of Midwifery student mentees (n = 24), over a 12-month period. Thematic analysis using an inductive approach was applied incorporating constant comparison to identify themes and sub-themes. Three overarching themes and three sub-themes were identified. The first theme was 'The great unknown'. Within the second theme 'Building the relationship' were three subthemes: trying to connect becoming known and an insider on your side. The final theme 'the virtuous circle' described the reciprocal relationship and benefits that developed between mentor and mentee. The mentor/mentee relationship took time to develop and went through a number of phases. A positive mentor/ mentee relationship flattened hierarchical differences, increased student confidence and capacity for learning, and reflected the midwifery continuity of care relationship between midwife and woman built on respect and partnership. Developing a successful midwifery mentoring relationship takes persistence, reassurance, and mutual disclosure ultimately resulting in a recurring cycle of encouragement and support.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2016.02.003
Abstract: this study examined images of birth rooms in developed countries to analyse the messages and visual discourse being communicated through images. a small qualitative study using Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) social semiotic theoretical framework for image analysis, a form of discourse analysis. forty images of birth rooms were collected in 2013 from Google Images, Flickr, Wikimedia Commons and midwifery colleagues. The images were from obstetric units, alongside and freestanding midwifery units located in developed countries (Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America). findings demonstrated three kinds of birth room images the technological, the 'homelike', and the hybrid domesticated birth room. The most dominant was the technological birth room, with a focus on the labour bed and medical equipment. The visual messages from images of the technological birth room reinforce the notion that the bed is the most appropriate place to give birth and the use of medical equipment is intrinsically involved in the birth process. Childbirth is thus construed as risky/dangerous. as images on the Internet inform and persuade society about stereotypical behaviours, the trends of our time and sociocultural norms, it is important to recognise images of the technological birth room on the Internet may be influential in dictating women's attitudes, choices and behaviour, before they enter the birth room.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JMWH.12609
Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that the media presentation of childbirth is highly medicalized, often portraying birth as risky and dramatic. Media representation of breech presentation and birth is unexplored in this context. This study aimed to explore the content and tone of news media reports relating to breech presentation and breech birth. Google alerts were created using the terms breech and breech birth in online English‐language news sites over a 3‐year period from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015. Alerts were received daily and filed for analysis, and data were analyzed to generate themes. A total of 138 web‐based news reports were gathered from 9 countries. Five themes that arose from the data included the problem of breech presentation, the high drama of vaginal breech birth, the safe option of cesarean birth versus dangers of vaginal breech birth, the defiant mother versus the saintly mother, and vaginal breech birth and medical misadventure. Media reports in this study predominantly demonstrated negative views toward breech presentation and vaginal breech birth. Cesarean birth was portrayed as the safe option for breech birth, while vaginal breech birth was associated with poor outcomes. Media presentations may impact decision making about mode of birth for pregnant women with a breech fetus. Health care providers can play an important role in balancing the media depiction of planned vaginal breech birth by providing nonjudgmental, evidence‐based information to such women to facilitate informed decision making for birth.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-07-2015
Abstract: Conducting video-research in birth settings raises challenges for ethics review boards to view birthing women and research-midwives as capable, autonomous decision-makers. This study aimed to gain an understanding of how the ethical approval process was experienced and to chronicle the perceived risks and benefits. The Birth Unit Design project was a 2012 Australian ethnographic study that used video recording to investigate the physical design features in the hospital birthing space that might influence both verbal and non-verbal communication and the experiences of childbearing women, midwives and supporters. Six women, 11 midwives and 11 childbirth supporters were filmed during the women’s labours in hospital birth units and interviewed 6 weeks later. The study was approved by an Australian Health Research Ethics Committee after a protracted process of negotiation. The ethics committee was influenced by a traditional view of research as based on scientific experiments resulting in a poor understanding of video-ethnographic research, a paradigmatic view of the politics and practicalities of modern childbirth processes, a desire to protect institutions from litigation, and what we perceived as a paternalistic approach towards protecting participants, one that was at odds with our aim to facilitate situations in which women could make flexible, autonomous decisions about how they might engage with the research process. The perceived need for protection was overly burdensome and against the wishes of the participants themselves ultimately, this limited the capacity of the study to improve care for women and babies. Recommendations are offered for those involved in ethical approval processes for qualitative research in childbirth settings. The complexity of issues within childbirth settings, as in most modern healthcare settings, should be analysed using a variety of research approaches, beyond efficacy-style randomised controlled trials, to expand and improve practice-based results.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2001
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2011.12.011
Abstract: This paper is an empirically informed opinion piece revisiting an argument published in Midwifery 10 years ago, that the increasing professionalisation of breast feeding was not supporting women in Australia in sustaining breast feeding. We present the last 10 years of primary research on the topic, explore major policy initiatives and the establishment and growth of lactation consultants in Australia to see if this has made a difference to sustained rates of breast feeding. We present an analysis of the only consistently collected national statistics on breast feeding and compare this with national and state level government data collections from the last decade. We have found that the considerable effort invested in trying to improve duration of breast feeding amongst women in Australia appears to have failed to improve sustained breast-feeding rates. We argue that this situation might be related to losing sight of the embodied nature of breast feeding and the relationships that must exist between the mother and baby, the knowledge and skills women quickly develop, and a loss of woman to woman support. We conclude that midwives have a major role in avoiding us reproducing similar, unintended, negative consequences to those resulting from increasing obstetrician managed normal birth. These include midwifery scrutiny and involvement in policy development and institutional practices and the design of services.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.WOMBI.2016.09.012
Abstract: Women with a breech baby late in pregnancy may use the internet to gather information to assist in decision-making for birth. The aim of this study was to examine how women use English language internet discussion forums to find out information about vaginal breech birth and to increase understanding of how vaginal breech birth is perceived among women. A descriptive qualitative study of internet discussion forums was undertaken. Google alerts were created with the search terms "breech birth" and "breech". Alerts were collected for a one-year period (January 2013-December 2013). The content of forum discussions was analysed using thematic analysis. A total of 50 forum discussions containing 382 comments were collected. Themes that arose from the data were: Testing the waters-which way should I go? Losing hope for the chance of a normal birth Seeking support for options-who will listen to me? Considering vaginal breech birth-a risky choice? Staying on the 'safe side'-caesarean section as a guarantee Exploring the positive potential for vaginal breech birth. Women search online for information about vaginal breech birth in an attempt to come to a place in their decision-making where they feel comfortable with their birth plan. This study highlights the need for clinicians to provide comprehensive, unbiased information on the risks and benefits of all options for breech birth to facilitate informed decision-making for the woman. This will contribute to improving the woman's confidence in distinguishing between "the fact and the fiction" of breech birth discussions online.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2012.07.035
Abstract: Midwives are the main health professional group providing support and assistance to women during the early establishment of breastfeeding. In published accounts of early breastfeeding experiences women report high levels of dissatisfaction with health professional support. To gain an understanding of this dissatisfaction, we examined the way in which midwives represent breastmilk and construct breastfeeding women in their interactions. Seventy seven women and seventy six midwives at two maternity units in NSW, Australia, participated in this study. Eighty five interactions between a midwife and a breastfeeding woman were observed and audio recorded during the first week after birth. In addition, data were collected through observation of nine parenting education sessions, interviews with 23 women following discharge, and 11 managers and lactation consultants (collected between October 2008 and September 2009). Discourse analysis was used to analyse the transcribed interactions, and interview data. The analysis revealed that midwives prioritised both colostrum and mature breastmilk as a 'precious resource', essential for the health and wellbeing of the infant and mother. References to breastmilk as 'liquid gold' were both verbal and implied. Within this discourse, the production and acquisition of 'liquid gold' appeared to be privileged over the process of breastfeeding and women were, at times, positioned as incompetent operators of their bodily 'equipment', lacking knowledge and skill in breastfeeding. In this context breastfeeding became constructed as a manufacturing process for a demanding consumer. The approach taken by midwives revealed an intensive focus on nutrition to the exclusion of relational communication and support. The findings indicate the need to challenge the current 'disciplinary' and 'technological' practices used by midwives when providing breastfeeding support and the need for a cultural change in postnatal care.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-04-2016
DOI: 10.1111/MCN.12313
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-06-2015
DOI: 10.1111/MCN.12179
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2017.10.022
Abstract: the aim of the study was to explore the views and experiences of women, midwives and obstetricians on the intrapartum transfer of women from planned homebirth to hospital in Australia. a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was taken, to conceptualise the social interactions and processes grounded in the data. urban and regional areas in four states of south-eastern Australia. semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 36 women, midwives and obstetricians who had experienced an intrapartum homebirth transfer within three years prior to the interview. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. women who were transferred to hospital from a planned homebirth made physical and psychological journeys out of their comfort zone, as they faced the uncertainty of changing expectations for their birth. The trusting relationship between a woman and her homebirth midwife was crucial to women's sense of safety and well-being in hospital. Midwives and obstetricians, when congregating in the hospital birthing rooms of transferred women, also felt out of their comfort zones. This was due to the challenges of converging with others who possessed conflicting paradigms of safety and risk in birth that were at odds with their own, and adapting to different routines, roles and responsibilities. These differences were derived from erse professional, social and personal influences and often manifested in stereotyping behaviours and 'us and them' dynamics. When midwife-woman partnerships were respected as an inclusive part of women's care, collaboration ensued, conflict was ameliorated, and smooth transfers could be celebrated as successes of the maternity care system. supporting woman centred care in homebirth transfers means acknowledging the social challenges of collaborating in the unique context of a transferred woman's hospital birthing room. Understanding the power of the midwife-woman partnership, and its value to the health and well-being of each woman and her baby, is key to facilitating a successful transfer. the midwife-woman partnership played a central role in providing the necessary support and advocacy for women transferred out of their comfort zone. When midwives worked together in an integrated system to provide the necessary care and support for women who were transferred, greater levels of collaboration emerged and women's perceptions of their quality of care was high. In practice, this meant health professionals respecting each other's roles, responsibilities and expertise, and ameliorating 'us and them' dynamics.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-2003
Abstract: This longitudinal study describes the relationships among breastfeeding experiences, maternal breastfeeding satisfaction (measured by the Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale [MBFES]), and weaning in the first 3 months postpartum. Postal surveys were used to collect data antenatally and at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months postpartum from 365 women recruited from 3 public hospitals in Australia. Breastfeeding problems were associated with a reduction in MBFES subscale scores ( P .05) but not with weaning. Infant breastfeeding satisfaction subscale score was negatively associated with perceived inadequate milk supply ( P .05) and positively associated with engorgement ( P .05). Significant predictors of weaning at all points were total MBFES score in the lowest tertile (adjusted odds ratios [ORs]: 2 weeks, 21.9 2-6 weeks, 14.6 6 weeks to 3 months, 6.4) and leaking milk (adjusted ORs: ≤ 2 weeks, 0.23 -6 weeks, 0.19 weeks to 3 months, 0.15). Perceived inadequate milk was a significant predictor only for weaning 2 to 6 weeks (adjusted OR=4.2). J Hum Lact. 19(2):145-156.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-06-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-1999
Abstract: To compare a woman-centered antenatal breast-feeding programme based on concepts of peer and husband artner support with a control group, who received antenatal breast-feeding education led by a midwife childbirth educator. Longitudinal, quasi-experimental study. A large private hospital in Sydney. A convenience s le of 179 primiparous women who attended childbirth education classes were recruited. One hundred and fifty-four participants remained following attrition and the application of selection criteria. There were 86 participants in the control group and 68 in the experimental group. The study population had a mean age of 30.4 years, were all married or living with a partner, were predominantly Australian born citizens (84%), and recorded a higher than average level of education than the population in general (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997). Nursing Mothers Association Australia (NMAA) representatives, their male partners and a mother who was willing to demonstrate breast-feeding, facilitated the experimental group. Maternal perceptions of success using the Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES) (Leff et al. 1994) and breast-feeding duration rates up to 25 weeks after birth were the outcome measures. No differences were found between groups in relation to maternal perceptions of success or duration rates. A difference was, however, detected in the qualitative data used to explore questions related to breast-feeding support and are to be reported elsewhere. Overall, breast-feeding duration rates were very high when compared to previously reported breast-feeding duration rates in Australia. There were no differences in breast-feeding duration rates or in maternal perceptions of success between those babies given supplementary feeds in hospital and those who were not, although early supplementation at home appeared to reduce breast-feeding duration. While no differences were found between groups in relation to breast-feeding duration and maternal perceptions of success, the homogeneity of the s le limits its extrapolation. The extraordinary rates of breast-feeding and the lack of research into antenatal breast-feeding education, warrants further investigation of these teaching styles across other populations. Importantly, this research found that a peer-led model of breast-feeding education was as effective as a midwife-led group in producing breast-feeding initiation and duration rates higher than other previously reported breast-feeding rates with the potential to enhance social support networks.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-08-2011
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Athena Sheehan.