The role of the midwife in the care of woman in puerperium

This bachelor thesis deals with the role of a midwife in the care of a woman in the postpartum period. The thesis comprises a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part begins with the definitions of pregnancy, labour and postpartum period. These are followed by the description of physiological changes that take place in the postpartum period, i.e. involutional and mental changes. The thesis focuses also on the needs of women in the postpartum period, and a special attention is paid to areas related to hygiene care, nutrition, defecation, physical activity, breast feeding, pain, sexuality, and relationships in the postpartum period. The role of a midwife in these areas is emphasized. Also the importance of nursing education is mentioned and the nursing care of a woman after spontaneous labour and a woman after caesarean section is described. The theoretical part is concluded with the description of an irregular postpartum period, which covers the issue of bleeding, infections, lactation disorders and mental disorders. The aim of this bachelor thesis was to ascertain how satisfied women are with the care provided by midwives. Two research questions were asked: How satisfied were the women with the care provided by midwives in the postpartum period? What did the women expect from midwives in the course of the postpartum period and were their expectations met? A qualitative research method was used and the data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview. The interview was based on 17 questions prepared beforehand. The respondents had the possibility to retrospectively evaluate the care provided by their midwives in the postpartum period, their own expectations and fulfilment of these expectations. The research was conducted in the period from February to April 2014