Background: In Sweden, pregnant women are encouraged to remain at home until the active phase of labour. This recommendation is based on evidence, that women who seek care and are admitted in the latent phase of labour are subjected to more obstetric interventions and suffer more complications, than women who remain at home until the active phase of labour. The objective of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of how women, who remain at home until the active phase of labour, experience the period from labour onset until admission to delivery ward.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with nineteen women after they had given birth to their first child.

A constructivist grounded theory method was used.

Findings: “Maintaining power” was identified as the core category, explaining the women’s experience of having enough power to deal with the situation, when labour started. Four related categories; “to share the experience with another”, “to listen to the rhythm of the body”, “to distract oneself” and” to be encased in a glass vessel”, explained how the women coped and thereby maintained power.

Conclusions: The women in this study had a sense of power that was expressed as a driving

force towards the birth, a bodily and mental strength linked to the conviction that they had the right to decide over their own bodies. This implies that women have the ability to make choices during the birth process that enable them to maintain their power.  The professionals need to be sensitive, supportive and respectful of women’s own preferences in the health care encounter, to promote the existing power throughout the birthing process.