Pentadic Cartography: Mapping Birth Trauma Narratives

Abstract

The reported prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder due to childbirth ranges from 1.5 to 6%. The purpose of this qualitative study is to conduct a narrative analysis of 11 mothers' birth trauma stories. The dramatistic pentad provided the overall structure for this narrative analysis. Using pentadic cartography, the author mapped the verbal terrain of each narrative using the pentad's five terms of scene, act, purpose, agent, and agency. The ratio imbalance between act and agency appeared most prominently on the pentadic map. Viewing the mothers' narratives through the act:agency ratio offered a terministic screen that helped pinpoint where the trauma that women experienced occurred during labor and delivery. Implications for clinical practice focus on the How (agency), the way clinicians provide care to women during childbirth.