Objective: to compare self-rated health and perceived difficulties during pregnancy as well as antenatal attendance, birth experience and parental stress in fathers with and without childbirth related fear. Design: a longitudinal regional survey. Data were collected by three questionnaires. Setting: three hospitals in the middle-north part of Sweden. Participants: 1047 expectant fathers recruited

Objective: to investigate the prevalence of childbirth related fear in Swedish fathers and associated factors. Design: a regional cohort study. Data was collected by a questionnaire. Setting: three hospitals in the middle-north part of Sweden. Participants: 1047 expectant fathers recruited in mid-pregnancy during one year (2007) who completed the Fear of Birth Scale (FOBS). Measurements: prevalenc

Objective: To study women's description of fetal movements in full-term pregnancy. Further to investigate if their descriptions could be sorted with regard to intensity and type of movements, using a matrix under development to be a tool for evaluating fetal movements in clinical praxis. Methods: Data were collected by distributing questionnaires including an open question: "Please describe your p

Background: Low maternal awareness of fetal movements is associated with negative birth outcomes. Knowledge regarding pregnant women's compliance with programs of systematic self-assessment of fetal movements is needed. The aim of this study was to investigate women's experiences using two different self-assessment methods for monitoring fetal movements and to determine if the women had a preferen

Objective: To explore the underlying structure of the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) and to assess the psychometric properties of the subscales. Background: The establishment of the mother-fetus relationship is an important developmental task for successful adaption to pregnancy, with implications for the well-being of mother and child. The PAI was developed to measure the relationship betwee

Antenatal anxiety symptoms are not only a health problem for the expectant mother. Research has found that maternal anxiety may also have an impact on the developing baby. Therefore, it is important to estimate the prevalence of maternal anxiety and associated factors. The current study aims to estimate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms during the first trimester of pregnancy and to identify asso

Objective To investigate the prevalence of soft markers identified at second trimester ultrasound in a low-risk population and the association of these markers with trisomies and invasive testing. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Swedish University Hospital. Population All women with fetuses examined by ultrasound at 15+0-22+0 weeks gestation between July 2008 and March 2011. Method

Aim: To describe initiation and extent of parents' application of skin-to-skin care (SSC) with their preterm infants at two Swedish neonatal intensive care units. Methods: The duration of SSC was recorded in 104 infants' medical charts during their hospital stay, and the parents answered a questionnaire. Results: Both parents were involved in the practice of SSC. Three infants experienced SSC dire

Objective: To compare perceptions of antenatal and intrapartum care in women categorized into three profiles based on attitudes and fear. Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study using self-report questionnaires. Profiles were constructed from responses to the Birth Attitudes Profile Scale and the Fear of Birth Scale at pregnancy weeks 18 to 20. Perception of the quality of care was measured

Background: Satisfaction with antenatal care could differ depending on the organisation and the context of care. Aim: To compare antenatal care in Australia and Sweden, to identify deficiencies in the content of antenatal care and what aspects contributed most in dissatisfaction with antenatal care. Methods: A longitudinal survey of 123 Australian and 386 Swedish women recruited during one year in

Purpose: This paper has two main aims: to explore fathers' postnatal care experiences with a specific focus on deficiencies and to investigate which service deficiencies remained important for fathers one year after childbirth. Design/methodology/approach: This is a prospective longitudinal study. Two months and one year after birth, the overall satisfaction with care were sought. A care quality i

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) supports parents' role at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). To enhance parents' provision of KMC, it is essential to obtain knowledge of what parents perceive as supportive factors and barriers regarding their opportunities to perform KMC. Aim: To identify factors that parents of preterm infants perceived as supportive factors or barriers for their performance of

Aim. This article is a report on a descriptive study of fathers' experiences of providing their preterm infants with Kangaroo Mother Care. Background. During neonatal intensive care, fathers describe the incubator as a barrier and the separation from their infant as stressful. Fathers consider it important to be close to the infant, and performing Kangaroo Mother Care makes them feel an important

Background: Women's fears and attitudes to childbirth may influence the maternity care they receive and the outcomes of birth. This study aimed to develop profiles of women according to their attitudes regarding birth and their levels of childbirth related fear. The association of these profiles with mode and outcomes of birth was explored.Methods: Prospective longitudinal cohort design with self

Background: the rate of caesarean in Australia is twice that of Sweden. Little is known about women's attitudes towards birth in countries where the caesarean rate is high compared to those where normal birth is a more common event. Objectives: to compare attitudes and beliefs towards birth in a sample of Australian and Swedish women in mid-pregnancy. Participants: women from rural towns in mid Sw

Background: While attending birth mostly has a positive impact on becoming a father, it has also been described as including feelings of discomfort and is more demanding than expected. Objective: The objective was to explore Swedish fathers' birth experiences, and factors associated with a less-positive birth experience. Methods: Mixed methods including quantitative and qualitative data were used.

Aims To identify areas in need of quality improvement by investigating inpatients' perceptions of quality of care, and to identify differences in perceptions of care related to patient gender, age and type of admission. Background Nursing managers play an important role in the development of high-quality care. Methods Quality of care was assessed using the Quality from the Patients' Perspective (Q

Background: Around 1015% of women suffer from depressive illness during pregnancy or the first year postpartum. Depression during pregnancy constitutes a risk for prenatal stress and preterm birth. No validated screening instrument for detecting depression during pregnancy was available in Swedish. Aims: We aimed to validate the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) against DSM-IV criteria f