Women's Decision-Making And Factors Affecting Their Choice Of ...

studies looking specifically at women's views about the place of birth. Research
is also needed into effective ways of giving women information about available
options in a non-threatening way. It is also important to conduct studies looking
into why midwives are reluctant to give information about the availability of
home births even though they are willing to support those women who know
about it.
Limitations of the study
The first limitation of the study is the small sample size, which weakens
the generalisability of the findings beyond the sample that was involved. Due to
the small sample used, results can only illuminate the problem, but cannot be
generalised widely although they could possibly be generalised to women in
similar circumstances. For example, it could be argued that the results could be
generalised to those attending the same hospitals and attended by the same
midwives.
The second limitation relates to the differences in educational status of the
two groups that were involved in the study. The home birth group were more
educated than the hospital group, which may bias the conclusions drawn about the
results. Thirdly, women in the study were only interviewed about their choices
once during their pregnancy, this might mean that change of plans about the place
of birth were missed which may have significance for the women.
Another limitation of the study, which also applies to qualitative research
in general, is that it is difficult to determine whether views raised by participants
are accurate (Murphy et al 1998). This point was made vivid in the present study
especially in one interview where the participant seemed to contradict herself as
the interview progressed. The woman started by saying that the midwife who had
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