Some women had been put off ECV by these lay accounts.
Women's decisions about ECV were often influenced by lay accounts of ECV which were frequently reported as negative.
In contrast to the negative lay accounts of ECV women in this study described, they reported that health professionals had been positive about ECV.
Many participants had also discussed breech presentation and ECV with friends and relatives, and many of the lay accounts of ECV they described were discouraging to them.
Women had a range of attitudes to ECV informed by their preferences for how to give birth; the acceptability of ECV to them; and lay accounts of ECV, which were frequently negative.
Woman 4, multiparous and chose ECV In contrast to the lay accounts women described, participants reported that most health professionals (including community midwives, hospital midwives and obstetricians) were positive about ECV and encouraged them to consider it.
Common misconceptions about ECV or the different methods of delivery could also be addressed, and women could be encouraged to discuss any conflicting lay accounts of ECV or delivery methods with their clinicians.
Woman 1, nulliparous and chose planned caesarean section Other participants were more ambivalent to negative lay accounts and dismissed others' negative experiences of ECV, believing themselves to be different in some way.
This has informed a small, but emerging literature on patient and family understanding and experiences of physiotherapy, which recognises the insights that can arise from attending to lay accounts; illuminating the interconnectedness of lay people's perceptions of treatment and interactions with physiotherapists, clinical outcomes and patient/family satisfaction [ 27 33].
Whilst not denying the cultural and economic context facilitates social relations that stigmatise the child and its family, we must avoid what Silverman (2006) refers to as accentuating the exotic in accounts, especially in this instance of lay accounts of illness in a developing country.
The first factor (benefits) accounted for 33.9%% of item variance, the second factor (purpose) accounted for 20.3%%, and the third (lay understanding) accounted for 18.3%%.
