‘Better to be prepared’,
‘Prepared through previous experience’
‘In labour nothing goes to plan’.
The second theme ‘Prepared through previous experience’ demonstrates that the
women in this study felt that previous experience of giving birth
removed the need for any further education. The third theme ‘In
labour nothing goes to plan’ should not be viewed entirely negatively;
it reflects the experiences of the women in that even with
education and planning that events may not always go as anticipated.
This does not necessarily mean that the women’s birth experiences
were bad. It should, however, encourage a midwife to
explore the need for education with a pregnant mother having her
second or subsequent children. What a mother may have learned
during her earlier experiences may influence the present pregnancy
either positively or negatively. This will be explored under
the discussion of the themes. Each of the themes will now be discussed
individually before drawing conclusions and recommendations
based on the insights they offer as a whole to those
interested in preparing women for childbirth.