Quantitative insights into televised birth: a content analysis of One Born Every Minute

'It must be right, I saw it on TV!': An observational study of third stage birth practices in popular television programmes

Objectives

To examine modern media depictions of the third stage of birth in a selection of UK television representations.

Design

Observational study of a sample of televised fictional and real births, audited against current National Institute of Health and Social Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

Setting

UK television channels BBC (Call The Midwife and This Is Going To Hurt) and Channel 4 (One Born Every Minute).

Participants

87 births from 48 episodes, sampled from the three shows.

Main outcome measures

The primary outcome was the number of births where the cord was clamped at more than 1 min after birth. Secondary outcomes included place and type of birth, measures of dignity and paternal involvement.

Results

Overall, the timing of cord clamping was clearly shown in 25/87 (29%) of births, of which only 4/25 (16%) occurred at more than 1 min in screen time. The place of birth and caesarean section (CS) rate changed according to the series perspective and era; graphic explicit images were shown, but these related to CS detail.

Conclusions

UK television shows have accurately depicted changes in place, culture and type of birth over the last century. They provide the public with a view of new rituals but an inaccurate picture of good quality care. Early cord clamping was shown in most births, even those set after 2014. No programme informed viewers about the safety aspects. When showing outdated practices, broadcasters have a public health duty to inform viewers that this is no longer recommended.

The perfect birth: a content analysis of midwives' posts about birth on Instagram

BACKGROUND

There is limited research into how midwives use social media within their professional role. Small pilot studies have explored the introduction of social media into maternity practice and teaching but there is little evidence around how midwives use social media professionally. This is important as 89% of pregnant women turn to social media for advice during pregnancy, and how midwives use social media could be influencing women, their perception of birth and their decision making.

METHODS

AIM: To analyse how popular midwives portray birth on the social media platform Instagram. This is an observational mixed methods study using content analysis. Five 'popular' midwives from each country (UK, New Zealand, USA and Australia) were identified and their posts about birth collated from a one-year period (2020-21). Images/videos were then coded. Descriptive statistics enabled comparison of the posts by country. Categorisation was used to analyse and understand the content.

RESULTS

The study identified 917 posts from the 20 midwives' accounts, containing 1216 images/videos, with most coming from USA (n = 466), and UK (n = 239), Australia (n = 205) and New Zealand (n = 7) respectively. Images/videos were categorised into 'Birth Positivity', 'Humour', 'Education', 'Birth Story' and 'Advertisement'. Midwives' portrayals of birth represented a greater proportion of vaginal births, waterbirths and homebirths than known national birth statistics. The most popular midwives identified mainly had private businesses (n = 17). Both the midwives and women portrayed in images were primarily white, demonstrating a disproportionate representation.

CONCLUSION

There is a small midwifery presence on Instagram that is not representative of the broader profession, or the current picture of midwifery care. This paper is the first study to explore how midwives are using the popular social media platform Instagram to portray birth. It provides insight into how midwives post an un-medicalised, low risk representation of birth. Further research is recommended to explore midwives' motivation behind their posts, and how pregnant and postnatal women engage with social media.

The role of pandemic-related pregnancy stress in preference for community birth during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unparalleled uncertainty into the lives of pregnant women, including concerns about where it is the safest to give birth, while preserving their rights and wishes. Reports on the increased interest in community births (at home or in birth centers) are emerging. The purpose of this project was to quantitatively investigate psychological factors related to this birth preference.

METHODS

This study included 3896 pregnant women from the COVID-19 Pregnancy Experiences (COPE) Study who were anticipating a vaginal birth. COPE Study participants were recruited online between April 24 and May 15, 2020, and completed a questionnaire that included preference with respect to place of birth and psychological constructs: fear of childbirth, basic beliefs about birth, pandemic-related preparedness stress, and pandemic-related perinatal infection stress.

RESULTS

Women who preferred a community birth, on average, had less childbirth fear, had stronger beliefs that birth is a natural process, were less likely to see birth as a medical process, and were less stressed about being unprepared for birth and being infected with COVID-19. In multivariate models, higher stress about perinatal COVID-19 infection was associated with greater likelihood of preferring a community birth. The effect of perinatal infection stress on preference was stronger when preparedness stress was high.

DISCUSSION

Women's birth preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with psychological processes related to risk perception. Community births are more appealing to women who view being in a hospital as hazardous because of the pandemic. Policies and prenatal care aimed to increase access to safe in-hospital and out-of-hospital birth services should be encouraged.

Midwifery students' views and experiences of birth on mainstream factual television

OBJECTIVES

To investigate midwifery students' experiences of viewing childbirth on mainstream factual television and to explore implications for student career intentions and potential pedagogical uses of television excerpts in midwifery education.

DESIGN

Twenty-two undergraduate midwifery students at one of two universities took place in focus groups between February and June 2019. Ethical approval was obtained at both sites. Thematic analysis was employed to generate key themes from the data.

SETTING

Two UK universities based in the East Midlands and East Yorkshire regions of England.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-two midwifery students at any stage of their studies.

FINDINGS

Researchers generated four key themes from the data a) Changed Perspectives on Televised Childbirth, b) Representations of Midwives and Social Implications, c) Representation of Childbirth and Social Implications and d) The Role of Televising Childbirth in Midwifery Education.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Midwifery students often experience a change of perspective on birth on television as they acquire new knowledge and skills. They recognise the potential social implications of how childbirth and midwifery are represented on television. Pedagogical use of televised birth has potential benefits but needs further investigation in the context of midwifery education.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Midwifery students are likely to begin their studies with pre-existing views and experiences around how birth is represented on mainstream factual television. They may need support to reflect on these to consider their expectations of the profession, to effectively support childbearing women and to potentially influence future production of media images of childbirth.