Women’s experiences following emergency Peripartum hysterectomy at St. Francis hospital Nsambya. A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Emergency peripartum hysterectomy (EPH) is a known remedy for saving women’s lives when faced with the challenging situation of severe post partum hemorrhage not responsive to conservative management. However, EPH by its nature is also a traumatic birth event that causes serious physical, emotional and psychological harm. Unfortunately at St. Francis Hospital Nsambya nothing much is known about these experiences since no study has been undertaken and these women are not routinely followed up. The purpose of this study was to explore these emotional experiences. METHODS: This was a qualitative phenomenological study carried out between August and December 2018. All those women who had undergone EPH between January 2015 and August 2018 were eligible to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used. 18 women were interviewed before saturation was reached. All interviews were audio-recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Three major themes were identified as the main experiences of these women in this study and they were; Loss of Womanhood, Joy for being alive and Loss of marital safety. CONCLUSION: Women experience serious emotional consequences following EPH. We recommend routine follow-up to help appreciate these experiences and advise them on appropriate mitigating measures.