Midwifery students and routine discussion of birth experience in the early postnatal period in hospital

Abstract

It has become increasingly acknowledged that a woman's experience of childbirth can adversely affect her transition to parenthood. Routine discussion of the childbirth experience is not always offered to women in the postnatal period. A postpartum talk, encourages a woman to express her emotional experience, and is an informal discussion of the birth experience with a midwife. This study explores the experiences of hospital-based midwifery students' knowledge and experience of routine discussions of the childbirth experience with women in the postnatal period. Midwifery students stated that they felt they had not received adequate training and education in leading a routine birth discussion with a woman, and they felt they required further knowledge and education to increase levels of confidence in this area.