Women's needs from antenatal care in three European countries.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the important aspects of antenatal care from a woman's perspective in order to develop a woman-constructed conceptual model of antenatal care.


METHODS
Grounded theory.


METHODS
Three European countries: Scotland, Switzerland and The Netherlands.


METHODS
23 women using routine antenatal care in the three countries were interviewed: seven women in Scotland, seven in Switzerland and nine in The Netherlands.


RESULTS
Three main categories emerged: 'responsibility', 'establishing a sharing trust relationship' and 'support me to be responsible'. The category of 'responsibility', which incorporated the sub-categories 'feeling confident' and 'feeling autonomous', is reported. Despite the many aspects that the women had in common, a divergence of the categories in each of the countries was clearly observed. The main cross-cultural differences were within the sub-category of 'feeling autonomous'.


CONCLUSIONS
Responsibility is the main reason why women seek antenatal care. Feelings of confidence and autonomy are substantial attributes of this responsibility. The cultural background of the women seems to cause the differences within the categories. These findings have implications for both the provision and the evaluation of antenatal care.
Luyben
Ans G
AG
Bildungszentrum für Gesundheit und Soziales, Loestrasse 117, CH- 7000 Chur, Switzerland. luyben@swissonline.ch
Fleming
Valerie E M
VE
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009426:Netherlands; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012606:Scotland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland