A qualitative exploration of women's and their partners’ experiences of birth trauma in Australia, utilising critical feminist theory

Abstract

Background: Many women in Australia emerge from childbirth describing their experience as traumatic. Birth trauma can be both physical and psychological, with long-lasting and intergenerational impacts. Aim: To explore women's and their partners’ experiences of birth trauma in Australia and consider the role of gender using a feminist theoretical lens. Methods: We used a descriptive phenomenological and constructivist/interpretivist approach and two frameworks (WHO Quality of Care framework; socio-ecological model) to explore experiences of traumatic birth. Participants were recruited through social media using purposive sampling. Data were collected through online in-depth interviews. Data ..