title: Midwives' lived experience of caring during childbirth--a phenomenological study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of midwives' lived experience of caring during childbirth in a Swedish context.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten midwives were recruited from one university hospital with two separate delivery units in western Sweden. Data were collected by both written narratives and interviews. With an inductive approach using a descriptive phenomenological method, the answers to the question: "Can you describe a situation in which you felt that your caring was of importance for the woman and her partner?" were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A general structure of the phenomenon of caring in midwifery during childbirth, including five key constituents: sharing the responsibility, being intentionally and authentically present, creating an atmosphere of calm serenity in a mutual relationship, possessing the embodied knowledge, and balancing on the borders in transition to parenthood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study emphasises how the midwives shared the responsibility and their possessed embodied knowledge of childbirth and how new unique knowledge was constructed together with the woman, child and her partner. The study has the potential to increase knowledge and understanding of midwives' lived experience of caring during childbirth and therefore has implications for practice, education, and research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-431 30 Mölndal,, Sweden; Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 457, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: ida.lyckestam@gu.se.
authors.forename: Ida Lyckestam
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Thelin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 457, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lundgren
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 457, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hermansson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008880:Midwifery; D009721:Nurse Midwives; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D036801:Parturition; D011247:Pregnancy; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Caring; Childbirth; Midwives; Phenomenology