Cognitive assessments of the amount of pain associated with childbirth by parents electing either homebirth (n = 282) or hospital delivery (n = 191) were compared using Thurstone's univariate scaling method of paired comparisons. Subjects compared the pain of childbirth with 8 other painful events. The hospital birth group rated childbirth pain significantly higher than the homebirth group. In ...

Background: Severe fear of childbirth (FOC) is the most important cause of elective and emergency cesarean section and results in an unpleasant experience among women. Implementing a psychoeducational program can promote mothers’ knowledge and reduce the FOC. Aim: the aim of this study was to determine the effect of childbirth psychoeducational program on the FOC intensity in primigravid women....

BACKGROUND While many are familiar with postpartum depression, the phenomenon of postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is less well known and investigated. OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of postpartum PTSD in a cohort of women in Israel and examine factors affecting its development. METHODS Eighty-nine women completed several ratings immediately post-delivery and after a mon...

Background: Maternal childbirth expectations play an important role in determining a woman’s response to her childbirth experience. Women need to be helped to develop realistic and positive expectations and identify the factors that infl uence these expectations. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare woman’s expectations and experiences of childbirth. Methods: This descriptive-compara...

UNLABELLED The current study investigated the contributive role of perinatal dissociative and perinatal emotional responses to the development of PTSD symptoms following childbirth. METHOD Using a prospective, longitudinal design, 140 women were studied who were followed from the first week after delivery to three months postpartum. RESULTS Three women (2.1%) met criteria for PTSD and 21.4%...

Childbirth is complicated in humans relative to other primates. Unlike the situation in great apes, human neonates are about the same size as the birth canal, making passage difficult. The birth mechanism (the series of rotations that the neonate must undergo to successfully negotiate its mother's birth canal) distinguishes humans not only from great apes, but also from lesser apes and monkeys....

BACKGROUND The fulfilment of expectations, labour pain, personal control and self-efficacy determine the postpartum evaluation of birth. However, researchers have seldom considered the multiple determinants in one analysis. To explore to what extent the results can be generalised between countries, we analyse data of Belgian and Dutch women. Although Belgium and the Netherlands share the same l...