Women's perceptions of midwifery care: A longitudinal study to shape curriculum development

Background: Health and education services are increasingly expected to focu s on the consumer The perceptions of childbearing women should be incorpora ted into midwifery curricula, but often they are given minimal attention or not sought for this purpose. This study was designed to enable the views a nd experiences of local women to influence curriculum development in a larg e university in England. Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal, qualitative study was conducted using semistructured and unstructured interviews with w omen, and data from their maternity records. Forty-one pregnant women were recruited and interviewed during pregnancy, in the early postpartum period in hospital, and in their homes 2 to 3 weeks after the birth. Results: Them es were clustered into three categories: the characteristics and qualities of the caregivers, the individualized nature of care, and the clinical comp etence of the caregivers. Continuity of caregiver was desired but accepted as probably unrealistic by many. Developing a "special" trusting relationsh ip with a female midwife was perceived as essential to promoting a positive childbirth experience. Clinical competence was expected and largely experi enced. Negative feelings related to individual caregivers move than the typ e of care given. Conclusions: Most women had positive experiences, finding midwives and doctors with good knowledge, interpersonal skills, and abiliti es, Examples of poor communication skills and interprofessional conflict in dicated a need to give priority to developing and assessing students' inter personal skills. Evidence of interprofessional conflict acted as the cataly st to merge midwifery with the department of obstetrics in the university t o enhance interprofessional learning.