Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40563240›Full record

SynthesisPerspectives on sexual and reproductive health2025

Emotional Touchpoints and Emotions of Childbirth: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review and Epistemic Network Analysis.

Yvonne J Kuipers, Yvonne Greig, Sandra Atencia Martinez, Maria King, Caroline Hollins Martin

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Yvonne J KuipersSchool of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
Yvonne GreigSchool of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
Sandra Atencia MartinezNHS Lothian, Edinburgh, UK.
Maria KingOrganisational Development and Professional Learning, University of Leeds, Leeds, England.
Caroline Hollins MartinSchool of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEmotional touchpoints are moments during perinatal care that evoke an emotional response in a woman. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the centrality of how touchpoints and emotions are framed in the real-life experiences of childbearing women.

aimTo explore how birth-related emotional touchpoints interact and how the emotions in the context of these healthcare experiences interact.

methodsWe performed a systematic mixed studies review to capture childbearing women's prospective and retrospective reports of birth expectations and experiences. We conducted a literature search in CINAHL (EBSCO), Medline (EBSCO), PubMed, Web of Science, and Ovid, followed by hand searching and forward and backward citation searching from the included articles. We performed a quality appraisal using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. We used Epistemic Network Analysis to model and visualize the connections and structure of the emotional touchpoints and the emotions.

resultsWe included 28 articles, showing overall moderate quality. We constructed two models, one of emotional touchpoints and one of emotions. The emotional touchpoints model showed a strong connection between Coping and the Process of Labor & Birth and between the Process of Labor & Birth and Beliefs (belief systems) about Labor & Birth. The primary emotions model showed strong connections between Joy and Fear, between Fear and Sadness and between Sadness and Joy.

conclusionsThis paper illustrates how the multidimensionality of birth-related emotional touchpoints and the positive and negative emotions prospectively and retrospectively reported by pregnant and postpartum women were distilled-informing the conversation between care providers and childbearing women.

Indexed as

EmotionsLabor, ObstetricParturitionAdaptation, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansPregnancybirthemotional touchpointsemotionsepistemicexpectationsexperiences

Identifiers

PMID40563240
PMCPMC12421079

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.