Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Background: Women's experience of homebirth has been a focus of research, with limited international research and no Australian evidence of the experiences of midwives in relation to their experience of intrapartum transfers within the context of a planned homebirth. Object...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Elsevier Ltd
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26472 |
| _version_ | 1848751996217065472 |
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| author | Ball, C. Hauck, Yvonne Kuliukas, Lesley Lewis, Lucy Doherty, D. |
| author_facet | Ball, C. Hauck, Yvonne Kuliukas, Lesley Lewis, Lucy Doherty, D. |
| author_sort | Ball, C. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2016 Elsevier B.V. Background: Women's experience of homebirth has been a focus of research, with limited international research and no Australian evidence of the experiences of midwives in relation to their experience of intrapartum transfers within the context of a planned homebirth. Objective: To explore the experience of Western Australian midwives involved in an intrapartum transfer from home to hospital. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted. Women who elect to have a homebirth in Western Australia have the choice of care from privately practising midwives or a publicly funded program. Midwives who were currently practising or had practised within the past three years and experienced an intrapartum transfer were invited to participate. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 midwives and data analysed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method. Results: Analysis revealed an overarching theme "under scrutiny" which captured four themes: "decision to transfer: getting the timing right"; "reception at the hospital: welcoming or not"; "maintaining continuity of carer" and "reflections: coming to terms with the experience". Conclusion: The decision to transfer to hospital represents a profound shift in expectations for the woman and midwife that is often not recognised by hospital staff. Intrapartum transfer is a challenging clinical decision for all parties; midwives, women, partners and health services. Increased effort by maternity health professionals to improve communication and collaboration must be a priority to better support women and their partners who make an informed decision to have a planned homebirth. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:01:36Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-26472 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:01:36Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-264722017-09-13T15:27:12Z Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia Ball, C. Hauck, Yvonne Kuliukas, Lesley Lewis, Lucy Doherty, D. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. Background: Women's experience of homebirth has been a focus of research, with limited international research and no Australian evidence of the experiences of midwives in relation to their experience of intrapartum transfers within the context of a planned homebirth. Objective: To explore the experience of Western Australian midwives involved in an intrapartum transfer from home to hospital. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted. Women who elect to have a homebirth in Western Australia have the choice of care from privately practising midwives or a publicly funded program. Midwives who were currently practising or had practised within the past three years and experienced an intrapartum transfer were invited to participate. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 midwives and data analysed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method. Results: Analysis revealed an overarching theme "under scrutiny" which captured four themes: "decision to transfer: getting the timing right"; "reception at the hospital: welcoming or not"; "maintaining continuity of carer" and "reflections: coming to terms with the experience". Conclusion: The decision to transfer to hospital represents a profound shift in expectations for the woman and midwife that is often not recognised by hospital staff. Intrapartum transfer is a challenging clinical decision for all parties; midwives, women, partners and health services. Increased effort by maternity health professionals to improve communication and collaboration must be a priority to better support women and their partners who make an informed decision to have a planned homebirth. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26472 10.1016/j.srhc.2016.02.009 Elsevier Ltd restricted |
| spellingShingle | Ball, C. Hauck, Yvonne Kuliukas, Lesley Lewis, Lucy Doherty, D. Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title | Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title_full | Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title_fullStr | Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title_short | Under scrutiny: Midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in Western Australia |
| title_sort | under scrutiny: midwives' experience of intrapartum transfer from home to hospital within the context of a planned homebirth in western australia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26472 |