Following approval from the human subjects institutional review board at Western Michigan University, the sample for
this study was solicited through a local agency in southwestern Michigan that offers childbirth classes and doula services.
Purposeful sampling (used when researchers wish to understand a particular phenomenon)12 was used to recruit participants via e-mail invitations and an advertisement on a social
networking site. Invitations outlined the purpose of the study,
listed inclusion criteria, and provided contact information for
the study coordinator. To be included, participants had to be
aged between 18 and 55 years, speak and read English, and
have had at least one hospital birth followed by at least one
planned home birth within the previous 10 years.
twenty woman consented to participate and were scheduled to participate in a focus group. the woman were offered different dates and times to best meet their schedules. it was planned to recruit 18 to 25 participants, with saturation expected within this number