Experience of pregnancy, delivery, motherhood and knowledge transfer in 3 generations of mothers

The purpose of the study was to describe how three generations of mothers have reacted to their pregnancies and deliveries and also how they feel about their maternity. Furthermore, the purpose was to illustrate the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another. Interviews have been made with three triads of generations, in all nine mothers. A phenomenological-hermeneutic onset has been chosen in order to analyse the narratives of the mothers. In the structural analyses the following themes came to hand: positive experiences/feelings, negative experiences/feelings, internal and external network and knowledge. The life-experiences of the maternity of the mothers were chiefly positive while experiences from pregnancy and childbirth were positive as well as negative. The knowledge of the mothers regarding childbirth and the bringing up of children were mostly conveyed in the everyday-contact during their early years, amongst mother-daughter-granddaughter. For the feeling of a successful experience during pregnancy, delivery and maternity, the internal network as well as the external turned out to be of great importance. In order to even better be able to provide for the needs of the expectant mothers or of those who have recently become mothers, an individual planning of care of both in- and out-patients within maternity- and childwelfare can be valuable.