Women's experience of unplanned out-of-hospital birth in Sweden – a phenomenological description

•Between 0, 5 and 2 percent of women planning to give birth in hospital environment will have an unplanned pre-hospital birth.•Women experience feelings of good fortune and pride but also feelings of fear of what could have happened.•The findings can be useful in communicating the experience of unplanned pre-hospital birth to parents in antenatal classes.

BackgroundBetween 0.5 and 2 percent of women planning to give birth in a hospital environment in Sweden will have an unplanned out-of-hospital birth. Few studies have described mothers' experiences of out-of-hospital births and none on a Swedish population. In an attempt to fill this gap, we have made this pilot study designed to capture mothers' experiences of unplanned out-of-hospital births in Sweden.MethodQualitative interviews with eight Swedish women, one to three years after they experienced an unplanned out-of-hospital birth. Data were analysed using the method of phenomenological description.ResultsThe meaning of giving unplanned birth outside a hospital environment was “The lived experience of a pendular movement between the good fortune and pride in managing the situation and the fear of what could have happened when giving unplanned birth outside a hospital environment.” In the analysis two clusters emerged that supported the essence: Balancing Emotions and Handling Unfamiliar Actions.ConclusionsThis study contributes to an understanding of the natural processes when giving birth. The findings can be useful when communicating the experience of unplanned out-of-hospital birth to parents in antenatal classes. The women could be encouraged to listen and trust their own body signs as a preparation for giving birth in any type of setting. Guidelines for taking care of women with out-of-hospital birth experiences are suggested.