Women's preferences for mode of second birth—A prospective study of two Israeli birth cohorts

Abstract

Introduction: Various biopsychosocial factors affect women's preferences with respect to mode of birth, but they are usually not examined simultaneously and prospectively. In the current study, we assessed the contribution of personal characteristics of first-time mothers, their prior prenatal perceptions, events during birth, and subjective birth experiences, on their preference about mode of second birth. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of two prospective birth cohort studies.Participants included 832 primiparous women recruited mostly from women's health centers in Israel, and through natural birth communities and cesarean birth websites.Women completed questionnaires prenatally and were followed up at 6-8 weeks postpartum to understand their preferences for a second birth. Results: Regression models indicated that after vaginal first birth, being less religious, believing that birth is a medical process, and having a negative experience increased the odds of preferring primary cesarean for the second birth. After cesarean birth, being more religious, having higher education, conceiving spontaneously, having a more negative birth experience, and perceiving better treatment from the staff during birth contributed to preferring vaginal birth for the second birth. Conclusions: Religiosity is central to women's preferences, probably because of its association with the desire to have many children. Modifiable factors, such as women's beliefs about the nature of birth, their overall birth experience, and their perceived treatment from the staff, could influence the uptake of having vaginal births.Intrapartum care that is empathic and encouraging, along with education about modes of birth, could help decrease cesarean birth rates. K E Y W O R D Sbeliefs about birth, biopsychosocial, birth experience, mode of birth, religiosity 238 | PREIS Et al.

The role of pandemic‐related pregnancy stress in preference for community birth during the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States

“…Choosing a community birth is an active decision that requires preparation, both mentally and physically, especially since pharmaceutical pain relief is not an option 47 . This choice also requires greater confidence related to feeling prepared 17,18 …”

“…These beliefs are closely related to conceptualizations of midwifery/holistic/social birth models and obstetric/medical/technocratic birth models 13‐15 and operationalize the extent to which women view birth as a natural and safe process and as a medical and risky one 16 . Birth beliefs are predictive of type and place of birth preference, emergency birth modes (ie, unplanned cesarean, assisted vaginal birth), and birth satisfaction 17‐19 . In addition, qualitative research highlights risk, empowerment, control, and autonomy as key concepts in community birth preferences: Women who elect to birth at home or in birth centers often wish to conserve their autonomy, to feel empowered and to remain in control of their birth (eg, not have medical professionals manage their birth and use medication to control labor pain).…”

Percepción de las vías del parto de mujeres en edad reproductiva: una revisión de la literatura

“…Se identificaron 20 estudios [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] , de los cuales cuatro fueron realizados en Irán 19,26,29,35 , dos en Suecia 21,27 , dos en Israel 16,20 , dos en Ghana 22,33 , dos en Turquía 30,34 , uno en Bangladesh 25 , uno en Uganda 17 , uno en Chile 18 , uno en Brasil 23 , uno en España 24 , uno en Países Bajos 28 , uno en Pakistán 31 y uno en tres países (Egipto, Líbano y Siria) 32 .…”

“…Del total de los estudios, 11 se centraban en el parto vaginal y la cesárea 17,21,[23][24][25]27,28,30,32,34,35 , cinco solo en la cesárea 18,22,26,31,33 y cuatro solo en el parto vaginal 16,19,20,29 .…”

“…Finalmente, respecto a la predilección de una vía del parto, varios estudios 16,17,[19][20][21][22]30,[33][34][35] reportaron la preferencia del parto vía vaginal sobre la cesárea, siendo esta última la opción de preferencia solo en cinco trabajos 18,23,26,29,31 . Cabe destacar que en los estudios restantes 24,25,27,28,32 no se notificó preferencia por una determinada vía del parto, dado que el foco se puso en abarcar los factores que influían en la elección propiamente tal.…”