Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
Women’s Individual Needs
“it’s a special day and you just want to feel that you have some
value”
“it would be nice to have a choice”
“I know you have a job to do but you know as an expectant mother
I have a job to do as well”
Follow Up Plan of Care
“but seriously the baby could be born before my next visit”
“there is no plan that I’m involved in anyway”
Women’s expectation and experience of their first ultrasound
scan at the first antenatal booking visit
The ultrasound scan was a dominant topic of discussion amongst all
the women during the focus groups. The scan emerged as a
significant expectation, event and experience for all the women at
the first antenatal booking visit. Without exception the women’s
focus on this technological aspect of the first visit was profound. The
value placed on the scan outweighed the meeting between the
woman and the midwife
”I think its all about the scan, the first is all about the scan”
Women felt the scan “when you actually see the little head and
body moving around, its brilliant”, the highlight of the first visit and
what they expect from the first visit.
Some women describe the waiting period for the visit and the scan
as an anxious and doubt filled time wondering, “how soon I can get
scanned …and is there a heartbeat”..
“you don’t know until you’ve had the scan is everything OK
or not”
Descriptions of the first antenatal ultrasound scans in this study are
“the scan is great, the scan is brilliant”. Expectations are that the
scan “makes it all real” and confirms the pregnancy, reassures that
“everything is OK” and that a good picture of the baby will be seen.
“they did a scan and she said everything was normal”
“When I had the scan I was so relieved and so happy” highlights the
reassurance and positive feelings women in this study had as a
result of the scan.
Many women were uncertain of their pregnancy diagnosis until they
had an ultrasound scan, “its an amazing thing, it hits you like a ton
of bricks, you’re definitely pregnant then”. This uncertainty was
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