WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

I found myself regularly challenged to stay focused on the phenomenon I had chosen to
study. Van Manen (1990) writes “unless the researcher remains strong in his or her
orientation to the fundamental question or notion, there will be many temptations to get
side-tracked” (p.33). I needed to journal, reflect and refocus regularly as there was the
constant tendency to detract and pursue beliefs based on my pre-understandings and my
ongoing communications and experiences during the course of this study. My feelings
and belief systems initially invaded the texts and as my supervisor gently advised me, my
interpretations initially read ‘like a madeira cake rather than a sponge’. As a
consequence, I would regularly need to reflect, omit personal crusades from the text and
refocus on the content and the coordinators’ telling of their stories.
By revisiting transcripts and the tapes I eventually discovered fluidity, resonance and
recurrent themes in stories. Many of the stories had interweaving themes. Themes of the
coordinators were found to align in part with van Manen’s ‘life world’ themes.
Study Design
Ethical Approval
Approval was gained from the Auckland University of Technology Ethics Committee in
February 2008 with my obligation to protect participants in this study complied with
throughout the process (See Appendix A and attached Participant Information Sheet).
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