How do the accounts of the patients on pregnancy and birth process enlighten medical team in terms of narrative ethics?
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the patient and the physician, midwife and nurse during the process of pregnancy and birth, and to ascertain the importance of communication within this relationship; find out the experiences of patients about the communication process.


METHODS
Three hundred eighty-eight people were interviewed about the pregnancy and birth process. Chi square (chi(2)) and t-tests were used for the statistical evaluation of the data. Forty-nine pregnant women, who were participating in any pregnancy training program, were asked to write down their experiences related to the pregnancy and birth process in a notebook. Thirty-two (65.3%) of these notebooks were taken back 3 months after the delivery, and these notebooks were evaluated within the framework of "narrative ethics" and common themes were found out in order to be discussed in this paper.


RESULTS
It is found out that communication skills of doctors and midwives/nurses were of primary importance for all the participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Pregnancy and birth are special processes and being informed is of great importance in this process. Every woman has a story to tell about her pregnancy and birth processes.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings may contribute to the development of new hypotheses. Hence, similar research projects should be conducted, and the findings should be compared.
Elcioglu
Omur
O
Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Eskisehir, Turkey. elcioglu@ogu.edu.tr
Kirimlioglu
Nurdan
N
Yildiz
Zeki
Z
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003142:Communication; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D033262:Narration; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D011247:Pregnancy; D028662:Principle-Based Ethics; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey