Midwives' lived experience of caring during childbirth - a phenomenological study

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. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.