Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Tavares, Márcio; Alexandre-Sousa, Pedro; Victória, Andrea; Loureiro, Susana; Santos, Ana Paula; Mendes, José

doi:10.3390/healthcare12212125

Open AccessArticle

Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

by

Márcio Tavares

¹,

Pedro Alexandre-Sousa

²

,

Andrea Victória

¹,

Susana Loureiro

³,

Ana Paula Santos

¹ and

José Mendes

^4,*

¹

Department of Nursing, Family and Community Health, School of Health, University of the Azores, 9500 Ponta Delgada, Portugal

²

Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechcare), Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411 Leiria, Portugal

³

Hospital do Santo Espírito Santo da Ilha Terceira, 9700 Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal

⁴

Insight: Piaget Research Center for Ecological Human Development, 2805 Almada, Portugal

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Healthcare 2024, 12(21), 2125; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12212125

Submission received: 12 September 2024 / Revised: 20 October 2024 / Accepted: 23 October 2024 / Published: 24 October 2024

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Abstract

Background/Objectives: Childbirth is a profoundly personal experience that often does not align with expectations. The World Health Organization has established guidelines for best practises; in this sense, it is crucial to understand the childbirth experiences of Portuguese women in comparison with these guidelines. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted to achieve this. In total, 615 women completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Labour and Childbirth Experience questionnaire, which comprised 39 statements based on the WHO’s recommendations. Additionally, the study utilized the Life Satisfaction Scale and gathered insights into participants’ overall perception of care during this phase. Results: The results were categorized as follows: (1) practises influencing the labour experience; (2) practises influencing the experience of vaginal birth; (3) practises affecting the experience of caesarean birth; and (4) emotional experience during labour and birth. Conclusions: Notably, the study found that practises discouraged by the WHO are still prevalent, potentially enabling obstetric violence. However, a robust and statistically significant correlation was observed between the childbirth experience and the overall perception of care.

Keywords: labour; obstetric; parturition; pregnant woman; life experience

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tavares, M.; Alexandre-Sousa, P.; Victória, A.; Loureiro, S.; Santos, A.P.; Mendes, J. Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare 2024, 12, 2125. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12212125

AMA Style

Tavares M, Alexandre-Sousa P, Victória A, Loureiro S, Santos AP, Mendes J. Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare. 2024; 12(21):2125. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12212125

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tavares, Márcio, Pedro Alexandre-Sousa, Andrea Victória, Susana Loureiro, Ana Paula Santos, and José Mendes. 2024. "Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study" Healthcare 12, no. 21: 2125. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12212125

APA Style

Tavares, M., Alexandre-Sousa, P., Victória, A., Loureiro, S., Santos, A. P., & Mendes, J. (2024). Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare, 12(21), 2125. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12212125

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Experience of Labour and Childbirth in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

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