Examining the Mothers Feeling of Safety, Location, Devices Used, and Type of Birthing Attendant Present
TimeThursday, April 152:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
LocationPatient Safety Research and Initiatives
DescriptionWhile birthing is a normal physiological process at times it poses major health risks to baby and birthing person, these risks are not shared uniformly across society. This poster proposal presents an in-depth literature review of the larger contextual factors that facilitate safe birthing environments and examines the role of slavery and ethnicity in outcomes. The proposal seeks to present synthesized information on safe birthing environments, taking into account the birth outcome of both birthing people and newborn babies. A wide variety of contextual components were found to have meaningful outcomes in this review, the main recurring theme being a birthing person's feeling of safety, and knowledge of birth. Three additional sub-themes were found: the location of the birth, the fetal heartbeat auscultation device used, and the type of birthing attendant present. This review found that the safest birthing environment was in a home, using an intermittent auscultation device, with the support of a midwife. This literature review contextualizes the literature in history, highlighting the significant role slavery played in the foundation of gynecology in America, which today contributes to higher rates of maternal mortality for birthing people of color. The themes found indicate safer births occur when a woman-centered approach is taken, in both developed and developing countries. This review of the literature found many avenues for future exploration as well including the emotional support, feelings of safety, doula's role in prenatal labor and postnatal care as it could be used to lower care costs, and the role of midwives in safe birthing outcomes.