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The Childbirth Experience Survey (CBEX): An Analysis of Qualitative Survey data
Samia Saeb1, Lisa M Korst2, Ferina Farahnik3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd. West Tower, Los Angeles, CA, USA. samia.saeb@cshs.org.
Insights
The Childbirth Experience Survey (CBEX) identified key areas for improving maternal satisfaction, including labor induction pressures, pain management education, and respectful care during newborn feeding support.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Patient Experience Research
- Health Services Research
Background:
- The Childbirth Experience Survey (CBEX) is a national survey assessing pregnant and postpartum experiences.
- It includes 18 domains and 23 patient-reported outcomes (PROs) linked to hospital satisfaction.
- CBEX was implemented in 16 California hospitals for quality improvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- Analyze qualitative childbirth experience data to validate existing CBEX domains.
- Identify new topics within current domains and provide actionable insights for hospitals.
- Enhance the understanding of factors influencing maternal satisfaction.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of qualitative responses from the CBEX survey item: "Is there anything else you would like to share about your birth experience?"
- Utilized Atlas.ti Version 8 for qualitative data analysis.
- Mapped 235 participant comments to the 18 existing CBEX domains.
Main Results:
- All 235 qualitative comments were successfully mapped to the 18 CBEX domains.
- Highlighted specific issues within domains: labor induction pressure, epidural management, student/resident interactions, and rough handling during lactation support.
- Qualitative data revealed nuances in patient experiences affecting satisfaction.
Conclusions:
- CBEX survey data informs childbirth-specific quality improvement initiatives.
- Voluntary participant responses capture nuanced aspects of the childbirth experience.
- Identified subtleties contributing to maternal dissatisfaction can guide practice improvements.
Background:
In collaboration with community research partners, a national cross-sectional online Childbirth Experience Survey (CBEX) of pregnant and postpartum birthing people was administered in 2016. The linked antepartum-postpartum survey included items across 18 domains (e.g., labor management, pain management, newborn care and feeding), and identified 23 childbirth-specific postpartum patient-reported outcomes (PROs) that were associated with hospital satisfaction. CBEX was implemented in 16 California hospitals to identify hospital-specific opportunities for improvement in care. We analyzed postpartum qualitative survey responses (1) to evaluate the content validity to test the representativeness of existing CBEX domains, (2) to assess for any potential new domains or topics of interest within existing domains, and (3) to use these data to provide hospitals with actionable information for practice improvement.
Methods:
This was an analysis of qualitative survey data based on the following CBEX item: "Is there anything else you would like to share about your birth experience?" Patients could provide multiple comments. Using Atlas.ti Version 8, we mapped participant responses to the 18 existing CBEX domains.
Results:
Of 525 surveys completed between Oct 2018 and Sept 2020, 172 patients responded to the qualitative item. A total of 235 comments were analyzed and all were able to be mapped to the 18 domains. Qualitative responses highlighted subtleties within several CBEX domains: (1) labor management: pressure from the care team to have a labor induction; (2) pain management: epidural effectiveness, timing, dosage, and education; (3) empathy and respect: issues related to students and residents; and (4) newborn feeding: rough physical handling of patients by nurses, specifically during lactation consults.
Discussion:
CBEX survey data is currently being utilized in hospitals to inform childbirth-specific quality improvement initiatives. By capturing detailed voluntary participant responses, CBEX provides the opportunity to document and explore nuanced aspects of the childbirth experience and subtleties that may be contributing to maternal dissatisfaction.
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