Midwives’ experiences using a peanut ball for women during labour: A qualitative study

Objective: To gain insight into the benefits, shortcomings, and practical considerations when using the peanut ball for women during labour. Design & setting: We used a descriptive qualitative approach using semi-structured, in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of eight midwives working in a tertiary hospital birth unit in New South Wales, Australia when using the peanut ball for women during labour. Participants: Participants were recruited from the birthing unit of a tertiary hospital in New South Wales. The final sample included eight midwives working in the birth unit. Findings: Three overarching themes were identified: ‘Education and encouragement’, ‘benefits and disadvantages of peanut ball’ and ‘techniques’. The ‘Education and encouragement’ theme included three sub-themes: ‘selling it to the woman’, ‘educating midwives’ and ‘becoming usual practice and improving confidence’. The ‘Benefits and disadvantages of peanut ball’ theme included two sub-themes: ‘facilitates labour and birth’ and ‘discomfort’. The ‘Techniques’ theme included three subthemes: ‘positioning’, ‘sizing’ and ‘using alternative techniques’. Midwives are confident in their practice with the peanut ball and acknowledge the importance of educating midwives and women to promote its use. Midwives also discussed favoured techniques when using the ball, especially relating to size and maternal positioning. Conclusion: Our study provides insight into midwives’ experiences about using a peanut ball for women during labour. The midwives reported that the peanut ball encourages vaginal births and shortens labour times, whilst enabling women to participate actively in the birth. Education for midwives and women is vital for using peanut balls. Implications for practice: Peanut balls are not usual practice in birthing units in Australia and they are a novel intervention to improve labour and birthing outcomes for women, especially when using an epidural.