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A survey of contemporary antenatal parental education in Sweden : What is offered to expectant parents and midwives’ experiences

Pålsson, Petra LU ; Kvist, Linda J. LU ; Persson, Eva K. LU ; Kristensson Hallström, Inger LU and Ekelin, Maria LU (2019) In Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare 20. p.13-19
Abstract

Objective: To explore how antenatal parental education is provided in southern Sweden and midwives’ experiences of it. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with data collection from 66 antenatal clinics and 189 midwives during 2016. Descriptive and comparative statistics, chi-square and t-tests, were used to present the findings. Results: Antenatal parental education was most commonly offered in small parental groups and the number of hours provided varied between two and ten (mean 5.8) hours. A common and structured program for the sessions was used at 37.3% of the clinics. Normal birth, pain relief, partner role during birth, breastfeeding advantages and breastfeeding initiation were the topics most extensively covered. Topic coverage... (More)

Objective: To explore how antenatal parental education is provided in southern Sweden and midwives’ experiences of it. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with data collection from 66 antenatal clinics and 189 midwives during 2016. Descriptive and comparative statistics, chi-square and t-tests, were used to present the findings. Results: Antenatal parental education was most commonly offered in small parental groups and the number of hours provided varied between two and ten (mean 5.8) hours. A common and structured program for the sessions was used at 37.3% of the clinics. Normal birth, pain relief, partner role during birth, breastfeeding advantages and breastfeeding initiation were the topics most extensively covered. Topic coverage was in 12 topics, mostly related to the time after birth, lower than midwives’ rated importance of the topic: p-values between 0.05 and <0.01. Only 14.2% of the midwives often provided guidance to websites. Although midwives enjoyed working with antenatal parental education, they expressed lack of organizational support and lack of personal skills in group leadership and teaching. Years of experience did not significantly affect their self-rated skills in group leadership or teaching. Conclusion: These results contribute to knowledge about contemporary antenatal parental education in Sweden. Our results showed that antenatal parental education is not always in accordance with parents’ expectations, especially concerning early parenthood and guidance on the internet. To provide antenatal parental education tailored to the needs of expectant parents it is vital to develop evidence-based guidelines and to address midwives’ needs for improved skills in group leadership and teaching.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Childbirth, Midwives, Parenting, Prenatal education
in
Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
volume
20
pages
7 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:31084812
  • scopus:85061186450
ISSN
1877-5756
DOI
10.1016/j.srhc.2019.01.003
project
LUC3 - Lund University Child Centered Care
Promoting early childhood health; supporting parents, vulnerable children and challenged families
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f9123d6f-4df2-473a-8cb9-a8f3479ccfee
date added to LUP
2019-02-18 13:37:45
date last changed
2024-04-15 23:18:34
@article{f9123d6f-4df2-473a-8cb9-a8f3479ccfee,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective: To explore how antenatal parental education is provided in southern Sweden and midwives’ experiences of it. Methods: A cross-sectional survey with data collection from 66 antenatal clinics and 189 midwives during 2016. Descriptive and comparative statistics, chi-square and t-tests, were used to present the findings. Results: Antenatal parental education was most commonly offered in small parental groups and the number of hours provided varied between two and ten (mean 5.8) hours. A common and structured program for the sessions was used at 37.3% of the clinics. Normal birth, pain relief, partner role during birth, breastfeeding advantages and breastfeeding initiation were the topics most extensively covered. Topic coverage was in 12 topics, mostly related to the time after birth, lower than midwives’ rated importance of the topic: p-values between 0.05 and &lt;0.01. Only 14.2% of the midwives often provided guidance to websites. Although midwives enjoyed working with antenatal parental education, they expressed lack of organizational support and lack of personal skills in group leadership and teaching. Years of experience did not significantly affect their self-rated skills in group leadership or teaching. Conclusion: These results contribute to knowledge about contemporary antenatal parental education in Sweden. Our results showed that antenatal parental education is not always in accordance with parents’ expectations, especially concerning early parenthood and guidance on the internet. To provide antenatal parental education tailored to the needs of expectant parents it is vital to develop evidence-based guidelines and to address midwives’ needs for improved skills in group leadership and teaching.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pålsson, Petra and Kvist, Linda J. and Persson, Eva K. and Kristensson Hallström, Inger and Ekelin, Maria}},
  issn         = {{1877-5756}},
  keywords     = {{Childbirth; Midwives; Parenting; Prenatal education}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{13--19}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare}},
  title        = {{A survey of contemporary antenatal parental education in Sweden : What is offered to expectant parents and midwives’ experiences}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2019.01.003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.srhc.2019.01.003}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}