Women’s experience during the perinatal period

Abstract

Perinatal experience is an important stage in the life of every mother and her child. The childbirth process can be a source of emotional satisfaction and strengthen the bond between the mother and the newborn baby. However, a negative childbirth experience can create feelings of fear towards future deliveries, the need for cesarean section, the risk of developing post-traumatic stress and postpartum depression, as well as problems with breastfeeding. Purposе - to study the level of women’s satisfaction with childbirth in order to improve perinatal care. Materials and methods. A prospective cohort study was conducted involving 321 mothers who completed the satisfaction scale for childbirth and delivery. Descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis. It was found that the data distribution deviates from the normal distribution. The median value (Me) and the interquartile range (Q I - Q III) were calculated for the dataset. Results. The satisfaction scale helped identify the advantages and disadvantages of the childbirth experience in four key aspects of vaginal delivery. 1. Own capacity: a) Advantages: 76% of women felt strong; 79.3% - felt confident; 67.4% - felt happy. b) Disadvantages: 54% - felt that their childbirth experience matched their plans; 76.2% - felt tired. 2. Professional support: a) Advantages: 86.8% - felt they received sufficient attention and information from their caregivers; 84.8% - felt a comfortable and warm atmosphere; 84.8% - felt their needs were understood; 89.3% - felt they received proper care and assistance; b) Disadvantages: None, as the majority of women felt satisfied with the professional support. 3. Perceived safety: a) Advantages: 86% - felt safe; 89% - had trust in the professional abilities of the healthcare team; 68% - had many positive memories, while 1% had many negative memories; b) Disadvantages: 31% - experienced a low level of anxiety, while 16% - experienced a high level of anxiety. 4. Participation: a) Advantages: 67% - had the opportunity to choose a pain relief method; 60% - had the opportunity to change positions, while 21% did not; 86% - felt they received sufficient attention and information from the medical team; b) Disadvantages: Some women did not have the opportunity to choose a pain relief method (33%) or change positions during childbirth (21%). Conclusions. The study of women’s satisfaction with childbirth indicated the need for improvement in the aspect of «perceived safety». «Own capability», «professional support», and «participation» demonstrate high satisfaction, indicating the quality of perinatal care. The level of satisfaction can become a key indicator of the quality of perinatal care, contributing to the improvement of hospital efficiency assessment and quality of medical services». The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The research protocol was approved by the Local Ethical Committee of the institution specified in the work. Informed consent for participation in the study was obtained from the women. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.