Mothers’ experiences of an assisted vaginal delivery

Abstract

Each year, a significant number of mothers experience a vaginal delivery assisted by ventouse and/or forceps. Such an experience has the potential to negatively influence the mother’s childbirth experience, which may in turn affect her psychological well-being and her future birth plans. A small scale study was carried out to explore mothers’ experiences of their vaginal delivery assisted by ventouse and/or forceps. The objectives explored were: mothers’ feelings upon being told that they needed assistance with their vaginal delivery; their experiences of the delivery, and of the immediate postnatal period. A qualitative approach was adopted, and semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of seven postnatal mothers with experience of an assisted vaginal delivery. Data collected was analysed by thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Analysis of the findings revealed three themes. The first theme is: Mothers know but they (midwives and doctors) know better. Mothers are knowledgeable on operative deliveries, however in the presence of fear and concern they opt to rely on health care professionals for decision making, such as the mode of birth. Fear, guilt feelings and relief emerged in the second theme. Mothers experience fear, concern for the baby and subsequent guilt feelings as a result of the trauma experienced by their neonate. However postnatally, mothers feel relieved. The third theme: The Experience, illustrates that the mother’s overall childbirth experience is a complex one shaped by the instrumental delivery, support, physical trauma and the transition to motherhood. The small scale of the study was the main limitation of this research. Thus, a recommendation is to replicate the study on a larger scale, so as to obtain a better understanding of mothers’ experiences; increasing midwives’ knowledge, and promoting improvements in care.