Giving birth. Perceptions of Finnish childbearing women.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the lived experience of childbirth with women giving birth in Finland.


METHODS
Phenomenology.


METHODS
Twenty Finnish women who had recently given birth were interviewed within 2 weeks following childbirth, sharing their perceptions of meaning of their childbirth experiences. Culturally appropriate strategies for qualitative data collection were employed. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured.


RESULTS
The richness and diversity of the childbirth experience emerged from the data. One theme identified was a sense of awe at the creation of a new life within the context of birth as a bittersweet paradox. A strong sense of maternal confidence or self-efficacy was identified, which influenced the women's perception of and management of childbirth pain. Feelings of self-actualization were articulated as Finnish women successfully negotiated a challenging life event.


CONCLUSIONS
Perinatal nurses should increase their sensitivity to the socio-cultural context of giving birth by acknowledging women's experiences as legitimate sources of knowledge.
Callister
L C
LC
College of Nursing, Brigham Young University, 500 SWKT, P.O. Box 25532, Provo, Utah 84602, USA. Lynn_Callister@byu.edu
Vehvilainen-Julkunen
K
K
Lauri
S
S
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing; D009321:Natural Childbirth; D010465:Perception; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification