Abstract
BackgroundPrimiparous mothers who lack of experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed by multifarious stressors and challenges. Although professional support is needed for primiparas, there is a gap between the necessary high-quality services and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore Chinese primiparous mothers’ views on professional services, identify barriers to utilizing professional support, and further understand mothers’ expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services.MethodA descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous mothers who had given birth in the first year period before the interview and were selected from two community health centres in Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. Each conversational interview lasted between 20 and 86 min. Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data.ResultsThree major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfaction with current professional services for postpartum mothers, (b) likelihood of health care professional help-seeking behaviour, (c) highlighting the demands for new health care services. The related seven sub-themes included being disappointed with current hospital services; distrusting services provided by community health centres, private institutes and commercial online platforms; preferring not seeking help from professionals as their first choice; hesitating to express their inner discourse to professionals; following confinement requirement and family burden prevents mothers from seeking professional help; experiencing urgent needs for new baby-care-related services; and determining the importance of mothers’ needs. The necessity of professional support in the first month after childbirth was strongly emphasized by the participants. Online professional guidance and support were perceived as the best way to receive services in this study.ConclusionThe results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the current maternal and child health care services were insufficient and could not meet primiparous mothers’ need. The results also indicated that identifying barriers and providing services focused on mothers’ needs may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous mothers’ well-being, and further suggested that feasibility, convenience, and the cultural adaptability of health care services should be considered during the delivery of postpartum interventions.
Highlights
Primiparous mothers who lack of experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed by multifarious stressors and challenges
The related seven sub-themes included being disappointed with current hospital services; distrusting services provided by community health centres, private institutes and commercial online platforms; preferring not seeking help from professionals as their first choice; hesitating to express their inner discourse to professionals; following confinement requirement and family burden prevents mothers from seeking professional help; experiencing urgent needs for new baby-care-related services; and determining the importance of mothers’ needs
The results indicated that identifying barriers and providing services focused on mothers’ needs may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous mothers’ well-being, and further suggested that feasibility, convenience, and the cultural adaptability of health care services should be considered during the delivery of postpartum interventions
Summary
Primiparous mothers who lack of experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed by multifarious stressors and challenges. Childbirth and the postpartum experience often generate many physiological and emotional changes for mothers, new motherhood can be an overwhelming experience due to mothers experiencing a multitude of stressors, including routine baby care, physically taxing household duties, a lack of sleep, and breastfeeding difficulties [1,2,3] This situation makes the postpartum period a very challenging time for mothers, especially for primiparous mothers who lack previous knowledge and experience [4]. Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common psychiatric illness following childbirth, is mostly likely to occur anytime during the first year after delivery and poses a major global public health challenge [6,7,8] It can be difficult for primiparous mothers to adjust to their new role and to shoulder the responsibility of caring for their babies [9, 10]. Most postpartum new mothers expressed their eager demands for professional guidance and support with their baby care and their own care [12]
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