Women’s Experiences of Emotional Recovery from Childbirth-Related Perineal Trauma: A Qualitative Content analysis

The postpartum health care program in Iran is limited to the first six weeks of deliveryand only focuses on women’s physical problems. It seems that the issue of emotional recovery isunderestimated in postnatal women with prenatal injuries. This study was designed to explore women’sexperiences of emotional recovery from childbirth-related perineal trauma. This qualitative content analysis was performed on 22 postnatal women with perineal traumaduring labor at Omol-banin Hospital from the 20th of April to 25th of December in Mashhad, Iran in2016. The participants were purposively selected between 10 days to one year after childbirth. Datawere collected through semi-structured interviews and saturated after 26 interviews. The analysisof data was concurrently carried out using conventional content analysis adopted by Elo and Kyngas(2008). The MAXQDA software (Ver.10) was used for data organization. Emotional recovery after birth trauma is defined as going on a journey from negative emotionsto subjective well-being. Two super-ordinate generic categories emerged from the analysis: 1) feelingtrapped in multifaceted issues, and 2) regaining possession of life. The participants encounterednumerous concerns initially and with the help of family and community support, they regained theability to dominate life and develop a pleasant mood. Improving physical functions had an essentialrole in regaining emotional well-being and enjoying daily life. The results of this study promoted our understanding of the emotional recovery in womenwith childbirth-related perineal trauma. This helps the caregivers to understand woman’s emotionalconcerns and needs in order to offer appropriate counseling services.