{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T11:49:16Z","timestamp":1784116156534,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,14]],"date-time":"2013-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1371168000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":13,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Birth"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The impact of childhood sexual abuse on birth experiences was highlighted 20\u00a0years ago in <jats:italic>Birth<\/jats:italic>. Subsequent accounts in the midwifery press testify to the emotional trauma that women who were sexually abused as children may suffer during childbirth and the potential for caregivers to make the situation worse. This study synthesizes research on the maternity care experiences of women who were sexually abused in childhood to answer the questions: what do women need during their childbearing experiences and what can health care practitioners do about it?<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A metasynthesis was conducted to integrate the findings of several qualitative studies. The eight eligible studies identified by database searches were closely read, recurring themes were extracted and compared across studies, and core themes were identified by means of an interpretative process of synthesis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The key themes identified were control, remembering, vulnerability, dissociation, disclosure, and healing. If women were able to retain control and forge positive, trusting relationships with health care professionals, they felt safe and might experience healing in the process. \u201cSafety\u201d requires that women are not reminded of abusive situations. In the absence of control and trusting relationships, maternity care can be experienced as a re\u2010enactment of abuse.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>During their maternity care experience women who were sexually abused in childhood need to \u201cfeel safe.\u201d Health care professionals can help them achieve this feeling by seeking to ensure that those experiences do not re\u2010enact abuse. (<jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">BIRTH<\/jats:styled-content> 40:2 June 2013)<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/birt.12043","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,14]],"date-time":"2013-06-14T21:27:56Z","timestamp":1371245276000},"page":"88-95","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":76,"title":["Feeling Safe: A Metasynthesis of the Maternity Care Needs of Women Who Were Sexually Abused in Childhood"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"40","author":[{"given":"Elsa","family":"Montgomery","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences University of Southampton Southampton UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_7_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.1992.tb00405.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.1992.tb00407.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.1992.tb00409.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.1992.tb00408.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0145-2134(94)90026-4"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-349-13425-0_8","volume-title":"Challenges in Midwifery Care","author":"Kitzinger J","year":"1997"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/bjom.2001.9.5.7991"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_7_9_1","first-page":"37","article-title":"An experience of sexual abuse, grief and its effects on childbirth","volume":"16","author":"Hanan MR","year":"2006","journal-title":"MIDIRS Midwifery digest"},{"issue":"6","key":"e_1_2_7_10_1","first-page":"29","article-title":"Child sexual abuse and pregnancy: A personal account","volume":"2","author":"Rouf K","year":"1999","journal-title":"The Practising Midwife"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmwh.2009.08.001"},{"issue":"6","key":"e_1_2_7_12_1","first-page":"23","article-title":"Childbirth in women with a history of sexual abuse (II): A case history approach","volume":"1","author":"Smith M","year":"1998","journal-title":"The Practising Midwife"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/bjom.1994.2.8.387"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cpr.2009.02.007"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_15_1","volume-title":"Child Abuse and Neglect in the UK Today","author":"Radford L","year":"2011"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_16_1","volume-title":"Child Maltreatment in the United Kingdom: A Study of the Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect","author":"Cawson P","year":"2000"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_17_1","volume-title":"The SAVI Report","author":"McGee H","year":"2002"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.2009.00327.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/bjom.2001.9.2.8018"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_7_20_1","first-page":"26","article-title":"Maternity care of survivors of sexual abuse","volume":"12","author":"Garratt L","year":"2002","journal-title":"MIDIRS Midwifery digest"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/bjom.2004.12.2.12019"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0884217504266908"},{"issue":"6","key":"e_1_2_7_23_1","first-page":"20","article-title":"Child sexual abuse, labour and delivery","volume":"5","author":"Howarth A","year":"1995","journal-title":"Modern Midwife"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_24_1","volume-title":"When Survivors Give Birth","author":"Simkin P","year":"2004"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_25_1","volume-title":"Survivor Moms: Womens\u2019 Stories of Birthing, Mothering and Healing after Sexual Abuse","author":"Sperlich M","year":"2008"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_26_1","volume-title":"The Courage to Heal","author":"Bass E","year":"2002"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2648.2005.03380.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1098-240X(199708)20:4<365::AID-NUR9>3.0.CO;2-E"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1049732304269888"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1258\/135581902320432732"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0266-6138(94)90006-X"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_32_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1523-536X.1994.tb00532.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_33_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1526-9523(02)00284-2"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00005721-199509000-00009"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_35_1","unstructured":"LasiukGC.The lived experience of pregnancy and birthing of women with histories of childhood sexual abuse. 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