Midwifery
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This paper explores the relationship between perceptions of prenatal control, expectations for childbirth, and experienced control in labour and birth and how they individually and collectively affect birth satisfaction. ⋯ Experienced control during labour and birth is an important predictor of birth satisfaction. Health care providers should collaborate with the women they care for to use techniques that maximize the experience of control especially during labour and birth.
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Women's experiences of childbirth have far reaching implications for their health and that of their babies. This paper describes an exploration of women's experiences of childbirth in the Republic of Ireland. ⋯ Excluding women's views from service evaluation renders an incomplete and somewhat distorted depiction of childbirth in Ireland. Although women appear to be satisfied with a live healthy baby, the process of 'getting there' has an emotional and psychological dimension that is important to the experience. Measuring the quality of maternity services must encompass recognition of psychological and emotional well-being alongside physical safety.