• Susan Crowther, Elizabeth Smythe, and Deb Spence.
• AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: scrowthe@aut.ac.nz.
• Midwifery. 2014 Apr 1; 30 (4): e157-65.

Objectivesthis literature review examines the experience of joy at birth and what that joy means. The premise is that the whole of the birthing experience has not been fully explicated in the literature and that something of significance remains unexplored and unspoken. It is argued that a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to reviewing literature provides unique insights and leads to deeper understandings about birth and the experience of joy that attunes at that moment.Methodologythe philosophical underpinnings informed by Heidegger and Gadamer are central to this review and therefore the process of reviewing literature hermeneutically is described. Heideggerian phenomenology is used as the method to ask the questions of the literature in order that concealed and hidden experiences of joy at birth are made visible where they are gleaned from the literature. A hermeneutic lens is used to uncover relationships within the phenomenon of joy at birth and meaning.Findingsalthough a vast birth literature was reviewed joy at birth was often ignored, hidden or covered over. Reviewing the literature on relationships, professional presence, place of birth, birth satisfaction studies and birth as peak and spiritual experience provides glimpses of the phenomenon 'joy at birth'.Conclusionit is argued that joy at birth remains largely neglected as a phenomenon worthy of consideration. Plausible interpretations are presented that suggest that joy at birth points to something significant and meaningful. Spiritual and sacred meaning is alluded to in the papers reviewed yet the majority of papers that investigate birth leave this meaning unspoken. The review highlights a need for further thinking and questioning about birth that would direct on-going investigation.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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