Women's evaluation of their childbirth performance

To describe women's evaluation of their own performance during labor and delivery.

Participants (N = 60) were Lamaze-prepared, married multigravidae, aged 21-37 years who responded to open-ended questions in tape-recorded interviews during their postpartum hospital stay. Qualitative data analysis was used to identify themes.

Women evaluated their childbirth performance as managing well (45%), having difficulty (35%), and managing poorly (20%). The following helped them to manage well: short, fast labors; minimal pain; Lamaze; husband's encouragement; being informed; feeling strong; medication; and nurses' and physicians' encouragement, help with Lamaze, and information. Women who had managed well before and who were confident about managing well again tended to evaluate their childbirth performance positively. A significant difference was seen in mean labor length: Women who managed well had the shortest labors and women who managed poorly had the longest.

The women confirmed the notion that they had important work to do; they identified their own performance as one of the most important or the most important component of the childbirth experience.