[Couples at parturition: on the value of short preparation for the shared-birth experience]

Due to the rising number of couples who experience childbirth together, a rising number of men is faced with the problem of feeling as an "intruder" to the delivery room, which traditionally was reserved to women. Therefore, many "Lamaze-Groups" tried to better prepare couples for the birth situation. Since it is often difficult to carry out the commonly practiced 8-hour course, we decided to offer a "short preparation course for couples" and to evaluate, whether this program could convey strategies to cope with the emotional problems of childbirth and how this might manifest itself in individual experience. At two evenings, during two hours each, we referred and discussed the following topics: normal parturition and puerperium, rooming-in, breast-feeding and the psychological situation during this period; relaxation and labor-control exercises were practised together and all relevant rooms of the hospital were visited. In order to evaluate the efficacy of this short preparation, the following data were collected from 26 prepared and 27 unprepared couples: Couples were asked to answer the STAI X-1 state anxiety questionnaire according to Spielberger. Relevant medical data were collected from the patients records. During puerperium, a semi-standardised interview concerning the childbirth experience was carried out. Prepared (EG, n = 26) and unprepared (CG, n = 27) couples did not differ in socio-economic or marital status, parity or acceptance of pregnancy. Age was significantly higher in the TG for men as well as for women. In Spielberger's anxiety questionnaire prepared couples have lower values throughout most items, thus generally may said to be less anxious.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)