title: Peeling the onion: understanding others' lived experience.
abstract: Society and some healthcare professionals often marginalise pregnant women who take illicit substances. Midwives who care for these women are often viewed as working on the edge of society. This research aimed to examine the lived experiences of midwives who care for pregnant women who take illicit drugs. A phenomenological study informed by Heidegger, Gadamer and Merleau-Ponty was chosen to frame these lived experiences. Using face-to-face interviews, data were collected from 12 midwives making a difference, establishing partnerships and letting go and refining practice. Lived experiences are unique and can be difficult, intangible and couched in metaphor and difficult to grasp. This paper aims to discuss lived experience and suggests that like an onion, several layers have to be peeled away before meaning can be exposed; each cover reveals another layer beneath that is different from before and different from the next. The study provides exemplars that explain lived experiences.
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing and Midwifery , Deakin University , Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Hwy, Victoria 3125 , Australia.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.affiliation: b Independent Scholar , Woodside , Victoria 3971 , Australia.
authors.forename: Ysanne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: c School of Nursing & Midwifery , Australian Catholic University, Ballarat & St John of God Health Care , Ballarat , Australia.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Francis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D066297:Hermeneutics; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000451:nursing*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: hermeneutic phenomenology; lived experience; midwifery; nursing; qualitative research