The promotion of well-being in hospital: the point of view of parturient women in an intervention research on the “time of the birth", conducted with a qualitative approach

Studies conducted in a bio-psycho-social perspective have highlighted the central role of humanization and quality of life for parturient women. In an intervention research perspective, our work aims to investigate the point of view of women in childbed on their well-being and quality of life in hospital. 21 new mothers, in a hospital of Naples, answered some questions for a narrative interview. Through a categorical analysis we detected some themes particularly relevant to women: the need for informational support, the difficulty in relating to the health workers and in reconciling the hospital stay with the separation from other children. A textual analysis, using TLAB software, showed the existence of cross-category dimensions linked to the use of language, and highlighted the differences between primiparae and women which have already had children. Some methodological aspects are relevant for the intervention research in hospital settings, conducted with a qualitative approach: the influence of the environment; the relational difficulties with participants with medium-low sociocultural level; the co-validation of the results of the analyses through a discussion with the training participants. These results have encouraged the implementation of a training addressed at the hospital staff, aimed at increasing the level of well-being of parturient women through a critical review of professional practices.