Emergency medical technicians' experiences with unplanned births outside institutions: A qualitative interview study.

AIM

To explore emergency medical technicians' experiences with unplanned births outside institutions.

DESIGN

A qualitative interview study.

METHODS

Individual semi-structured interviews with 12 emergency medical technicians in Norway. Systematic text condensation was used to analyse the data material.

RESULTS

Analysis showed that there is a mismatch between society's expectations about emergency medical technicians and the reality they encounter in out-of-hospital maternity care, that emergency medical technicians experience a general lack of training in caring for labouring women and that poor communication with other health professions challenges patient safety. The participants expressed how they do their best in caring for both mother and child, in spite of a lack of education, training and competence in assisting labouring women.