"ANDAS SKA MAN ÄNDÅ GÖRA"
- Föräldrars förlossningsupplevelser då psykoprofylax använts som förlossningsförberedelse
Several factors can affect the childbirth experience among parents. Previous research showed that parental education was insufficient. Parents who participated in both regular parental classes and psychoprophylaxis education were more satisfied with the psychoprophylaxis education compared to those who participated in only traditional parental classes. Psychoprophylaxis should be more considered as it could help the woman to handle her pain and contribute to increased self-esteem. The aim was to describe and illustrate the parents' childbirth experiences when psychoprophylaxis was used as childbirth preparation. The material for the study was collected through seven semi-structured interviews analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Three self-rated scales were used to illustrate the experiences of childbirth, pain in childbirth and psychoprophylaxis. The results showed that childbirth experience with psychoprophylaxis was individual. The psychoprophylaxis was a help when coping with labor pains for the mothers but also for the fathers to manage the mothers labor pain. Parental cooperation and midwifery support was important when using the psychoprophylaxis. Complicated deliveries with interventions and separation between child and parents contributed to a negative birth experience, despite using psychoprophylaxis and support from the midwife. The parents meant that there was a need for psychoprophylaxis and several mothers could not imagine giving birth without the use of psychoprophylaxis.