Study of subjectivity in the perception of cesarean birth

This study defined the structural patterns of subjectivity in the perception of cesarean birth. Q methodology was used on 71 statements collected through interviews with seven persons and a literature review followed. Twenty-nine Q samples were selected and administered to 22 persons, and four types of subjectivity were revealed by the QUANL PC Program. Type 1, or the 'naturalist', is characterized by a passive tendency and dislikes artificial methods, feeling that they are performed for hospital income and the trend for social preference. Type 2, 'logical thinker', thinks that cesarean birth should be selected if there are obstetric complications and severe anxiety about labor, even though it results in low intimacy with the baby. Type 3, 'maternal instinctivism', values the maternal-baby relationship and the sense of accomplishment from childbirth. Type 4, 'egocentric', thinks that cesarean section should be chosen when the woman has severe anxiety about labor or when the obstetric condition becomes dangerous. Before commencement of the patient's labor pains, the nurses and medical personnel who are participating in the delivery should assess the structural pattern on parturient woman's subjectivity in the perception of cesarean section. As a further step, they should encourage the woman and her family to participate in the decision-making process for considering the type of delivery the mother wants.