Experiences of childbirth: how effective is childbirth education?

Birth experiences of 94 primiparous women who had attended birth preparation classes, were compared to a control group of 22 women of similar age and parity who had not attended classes. The results revealed that in contrast to the control group, women who had attended classes were of higher socioeconomic status, were more likely to have the child's father present at birth, felt more prepared for the birth, and were somewhat more positive to the idea that women should have a choice between home birth and hospital birth However, there were no differences between the groups regarding the frequency of interventions in labour, the length of the labour, the pain experienced and their feelings of satisfaction. Thus, no substantial effect of childbirth education was evident in the management and experiences of the birth.