Childbirth expectations and experiences and associations with mothers’ attitudes to pregnancy, the child and motherhood

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a woman’s childbirth experience could be predicted by Raphael‐Leff’s model of antenatal views of pregnancy and motherhood (the Facilitator, Regulator, Reciprocator, and Conflicted or Bipolar mother). Design and methods: In a monocentric prospective observational cohort study, 298 expecting mothers completed a booklet with questionnaires (including the Facilitator scale, Regulator scale, and Salmon Item List) at 30–36 gestational weeks (T1). A follow‐up booklet was completed at 8–12 weeks postpartum (T2). Obstetric outcome was retrieved from the electronic patient files. Results: At T2, women reported less distress and less difficulty than they had expected at T1. Women tending to the Facilitator orientation expected more fulfilment and less distress, whereas women tending to the Regulator orientation expected less fulfilment and more distress. Similar associations were found for the actual childbirth experience. However, the significance of the contribution to the childbirth experience disappeared when controlled for obstetric history, maternal expectations, and obstetric and neonatal outcome. In addition, primiparious women tending to the Facilitator orientation reported less intrapartum feelings of fulfilment when they had an assisted delivery. Conclusion: The maternal orientations contribute, to some extent, to the understanding of the variations in the childbirth experience.

Keywords:

• childbirth
• expectations and experiences
• obstetric outcome
• maternal orientation
• prospective design

Acknowledgements

The nurses, midwives, and obstetricians of the obstetric department of the Gasthuisberg University Hospital (Leuven) are gratefully acknowledged for their feedback, their support in recruiting the participants, and their efforts to collect as many booklets as possible. We also thank Yvo Deconinck, from the department of Medical Informatics of the Gasthuisberg University Hospital, for the collection of the obstetrical data.