# Communication between healthcare professionals and parturients during the childbirth experience: a mixed-methods study

## TL;DR

This study explores how healthcare professionals communicate with women during childbirth, revealing issues like poor information sharing and lack of autonomy.

## Contribution

The study uniquely combines quantitative and qualitative methods to highlight power dynamics in maternal care communication.

## Key findings

- Communication was often authoritative, limiting women's understanding and autonomy.
- Discharge instructions were better understood compared to other information.
- Power imbalances were identified as a key issue in healthcare-parturient interactions.

## Abstract

to analyze the communication between healthcare professionals and parturients during the childbirth experience from the perspective of women.

this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was conducted with postpartum women in a teaching maternity hospital. The first phase (quantitative) involved a descriptive analysis of 265 responses from the Mother-Baby Friendly Birthing Facilities Thermometer. In the second phase (qualitative), 44 interviews were conducted with postpartum women. Descriptive and content analysis, using a thematic approach, was applied.

data analysis and integration identified limitations in information transmission, a lack of understanding, and restricted autonomy in decision-making processes. Information was conveyed by the healthcare team in an authoritative manner. However, discharge instructions were well understood.

communication between healthcare professionals and parturients during the childbirth experience is shaped by power dynamics, underscoring the need to reconsider communication as an essential component of maternal care.

analisar a comunicação entre profissionais de saúde e parturientes durante a experiência de parto, a partir da percepção das mulheres.

estudo misto explanatório sequencial realizado com puérperas de uma maternidade-escola. A primeira etapa, quantitativa, envolveu a análise descritiva de 265 respostas do “Termômetro da Iniciativa Hospital Amigo da Mulher e da Criança”. Na segunda etapa, qualitativa, foram realizadas 44 entrevistas com puérperas. Utilizou-se análise descritiva e de conteúdo, na modalidade temática.

a análise e conexão dos dados identificaram limitações na transmissão de informações, ausência de entendimento e restrição da autonomia nos processos de decisão. As informações foram transmitidas pela equipe de forma impositiva. No entanto, as orientações de alta foram compreendidas.

a comunicação entre a equipe de saúde e a parturiente durante a experiência de parto é atravessada por relações de poder, indicando a necessidade de repensar a comunicação como um componente essencial do cuidado.