ABSTRACT

Abstract

Birth is a life changing and emotional event for women and their family. The childbirth experience is influenced by several factors that could result to either an unsatisfactory or a satisfactory childbirth experience. These factors include a sense of security, perceived control, experiences of prior deliveries and most important the quality of support during labour. Studies have documented the contribution of Continuous Labour Support (CLS) to women satisfactory childbirth experience, however, CLS practice is still not a routine in most maternity settings in Nigeria. The study explored the Nurse/Midwives perceptions and attitudes to CLS of a woman choice in public health facilities in the South-West region of Nigeria. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design was adopted for the study. The study population were Nurse/Midwives (n= 45) selected purposefully in seven public health facilities in Ondo state, Nigeria. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussion and analyzed through Tesch’s method of thematic analysis yielding themes and categories. The study reveals that women family are not usually involved in supportive care during childbirth in all of the study settings. CLS is not routine but only occasional/discretional practice largely due to lack of policy, protocols and guideline for its implementation. The study revealed a positive disposition to CLS introduction and use women preferred choice from their social networks based on beneficial effect to all stakeholders. However, implementation of CLS depend largely on complete overhauling existing infrastructure with adequate measures to other challenges identified in the study.