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Negotiating the ambiguity of an (in)authentic working life: a grounded theory study into severe perineal trauma
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1767-5712
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Section of Physiotherapy.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6636-9597
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5300-0990
2023 (English)In: BMC Women's Health, E-ISSN 1472-6874, Vol. 23, no 1, article id 47Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background: In Sweden, persistent physical and psychological health problems occur in about three in ten women who sustain severe perineal trauma (SPT) during childbirth. As most Swedish women work outside the home, the question of if and how SPT-related morbidity influences working life needs exploration. This study aims to qualitatively explore how women with persistent SPT-related morbidities experience and conceptualise their problems concerning working life. Further, we theorise the findings by applying Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist framework of immanence and transcendence as well as authentic and inauthentic life.

Methods: Ten interviews with women recruited via a Swedish social media community for perineal trauma were analysed according to Charmaz’s constructivist approach to grounded theory.

Results: The theoretical model and related core category ‘Negotiating the ambiguity of an (in)authentic working life’ reflected the women’s negotiations of immanence as ‘the silent covert object’ versus transcendence as the ‘the resourceful overt subject’. The model also mirrored the conflict of (in)authenticity in working life. An inauthentic working life was experienced when women were denied their subjectivity at work or constructed themselves as subjects in denial of their SPT. On the other hand, women who acknowledged their SPT and were constructed as subjects by ‘others’ achieved an authentic working life despite SPT.

Conclusions: The conflicting gendered process of ‘the silent covert object’ versus ‘the resourceful overt subject’ problematised women’s vulnerability at work. Aspects that enable subjectification and transcendence are essential for policymakers, employers, healthcare services, and society to eradicate the taboo of SPT and create a working environment characterised by understanding, support, and flexibility. Further, access to adequate care, sick leave, and occupational rehabilitation are essential. Such measures support transcendence towards an authentic working life and, consequently, a more gender-equal working environment that does not deprive women of career opportunities due to a physical ailment.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BioMed Central (BMC), 2023. Vol. 23, no 1, article id 47
Keywords [en]
Severe perineal trauma, Maternal morbidity, Workability, Gounded theory, Gender theory, Simone de Beauvoir, Immanence, Transcendence
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-204699DOI: 10.1186/s12905-023-02191-9ISI: 000928604300001PubMedID: 36750837Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85147562489OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-204699DiVA, id: diva2:1735912
Funder
Umeå UniversityAvailable from: 2023-02-10 Created: 2023-02-10 Last updated: 2023-09-05Bibliographically approved

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Tjernström, KatharinaLindberg, IngerWiklund, MariaPersson, Margareta

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