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Women’s experience of unplanned out-of-hospital birth in paramedic care
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Women’s experience of unplanned out-of-hospital birth in paramedic care

Belinda Flanagan, Bill Lord, Rachel Reed and Gail Crimmins
BMC Emergency Medicine, Vol.19, pp.1-7
2019
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PDF - Published Version (Open Access)526.32 kBDownloadView
Published VersionCC BY V4.0 Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-019-0267-9View
Published Version Open

Abstract

birth before arrival narrative women's perspective paramedic consent
Background: Healthcare literature describes predisposing factors, clinical risk, maternal and neonatal clinical outcomes of unplanned out-of-hospital birth; however, there is little quality research available that explores the experiences of mothers who birth prior to arrival at hospital. Methods: This study utilised a narrative inquiry methodology to explore the experiences of women who birth in paramedic care. Results: The inquiry was underscored by 22 narrative interviews of women who birthed in paramedic care in Queensland, Australia between 2011 and 2016. This data identified factors that contributed to the planned hospital birth occurring in the out-of-hospital setting. Women in this study began their story by discussing previous birth experience and their knowledge, expectations and personal beliefs concerning the birth process. Specific to the actual birth event, women reported feeling empowered, confident and exhilarated. However, some participants also identified concerns with paramedic practice; lack of privacy, poor interpersonal skills, and a lack of consent for certain procedures. Conclusions: This study identified several factors and a subset of factors that contributed to their experiences of the planned hospital birth occurring in the out-of-hospital setting. Women described opportunities for improvement in the care provided by paramedics, specifically some deficiencies in technical and interpersonal skills.

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Emergency Medicine

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#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

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