Midwives’ experiences of caring for women with antenatal anxiety and depression: A qualitative study with midwifery acupuncturists

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women seek help for a range of physical and emotional pregnancy symptoms from traditional acupuncturists. Whether midwifery acupuncturists in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ) provide acupuncture for antenatal anxiety and depression (AAD) in practice is currently unknown. Aim: This qualitative arm of a mixed-methods study aimed to explore midwifery acupuncturist experiences of caring for pregnant women with AAD in Aotearoa NZ. The aim of the research was to examine the factors that influence midwifery acupuncturists' perceptions of acupuncture use for AAD. Method: This was a mixed-methods study involving an online survey and in-depth interviews from a convenience sample of Aotearoa NZ midwifery acupuncturists who had completed a Certificate of Midwifery Acupuncture. This paper describes the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews. Findings: The eight interviewees were mostly NZ European (n=6) and Lead Maternity Carers (LMCs; n=6) caring for pregnant women in rural and urban locations throughout Aotearoa NZ. The interviews revealed an overarching theme, “helping midwives to navigate the ocean of AAD”, which identified the lack of support participants experienced from current maternity health services for AAD in Aotearoa NZ. Subthemes “Missing the boat during pregnancy” expressed how participants felt no options were available for AAD prevention, while “keeping women afloat with no ship in sight” represented how interviewees tried to keep women in their care stable even though access to maternal mental health services was difficult. Participants felt acupuncture was a useful non-pharmaceutical tool that works; however, they had reservations about “adding acupuncture to the midwifery toolbox”. Conclusion: Aotearoa NZ midwifery acupuncturists were concerned about AAD and the limited conventional options available for women in their care. Acupuncture was viewed as a promising adjunct to usual treatment for AAD. Reservations included adding acupuncture to an already heavy midwifery workload, the cost of acupuncture, and the appropriateness of the treatment.

The changing clinical landscape in acupuncture for women’s health: a cross-sectional online survey in New Zealand and Australia

“…Recent calls for greater patientcentred collaborative and integrative models [46] can potentially address previously identified barriers such as the dominance of the biomedical paradigm [47] and some clinicians' uncertainty regarding CAM practitioners' scope of practice [48]. Despite concerns pertaining to scientific evidence, professional regulation and safety, New Zealand healthcare professionals have a positive attitude towards CAM, with midwives recommending CAM and GPs referring patients to acupuncture [2,49]. Patient-reported data from a maternity acupuncture service in New Zealand shows that acupuncture offers a safe and beneficial non-pharmacological treatment option for pregnant women with lumbopelvic pain [50,51].…”