Women's control and participation in decision-making during childbirth in relation to satisfaction

Design: A quantitative cross-sectional study.

Methods: The KLI-P questionnaire measuring psychosocial climate in maternity hospitals by evaluating six factors was used to collect the relevant data. This article presents the results of assessing the satisfaction of women with the factor woman’s control and participation in decision-making during childbirth. The study sample consisted of 360 women within one year after natural birth (the mean time from childbirth: 6.22 ± 3.64 months). The obtained data were analyzed using univariate descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Student’s t-test.

Results: The satisfaction with the factor woman’s control and participation in decision-making during childbirth was 61.50%. The lowest satisfaction (20.28%) was associated with the women’s possibility of choosing the position for giving birth. Statistically significant differences were found with respect to the age group (p = 0.009), subjective perception of the course of childbirth (p = 0.001) and skin-to-skin contact support after childbirth (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: The results indicate the necessity to respect the principles of women’s autonomy during childbirth, with the emphasis on providing care focused on the needs of mothers, their rights as well as their active participation during childbirth, constituting an important complement to the current evidence-based approach to obstetrics.