RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PERCEIVED RISKS, CONTROL, AND SATISFACTION IN TWO BIRTH SETTINGS (TEXAS).
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 260
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the relationships among perceptions of risk and expectations for control held by women before childbirth and perceptions of control and satisfaction after childbirth. The Model of Control for Women in Labor, based on Tiffany's Model of Control (1969), guided the study. Four instruments, the Perception of Risk Scale, Expectations of Control Scale, Perceptions of Control Scale and the Childbirth Satisfaction Scale were developed and tested for use in the study. Reliabilities ranged from.68 to.96. A convenience sample of 60 pregnant women responded to the four instruments and were interviewed both before and after the birth. All subjects had low-risk pregnancies and were in middle-to-high income groups. Two groups were compared: one group of 30 women chose a conventional, physician-managed delivery in a hospital and the other group of 30 women chose home birth with a midwife in attendance.

The quantitative data were analyzed using t-tests and it was found that the home group had significantly greater expectations for self-control (p =.005) and environmental control (p =.001) and perceived significantly less risk (p =.002) in home birth than the hospital group. The home group expected satisfaction from family involvement, a familiar environment, health care provider support, and ability to maintain self-control. The hospital group expected satisfaction from safety, availability of medication for pain, and presence of the subject's partner. For the hospital group, an expected dissatisfying factor was the possibility of Cesarean Section and for the home group it was the possibility of having to go to the hospital. Satisfaction with childbirth was significantly correlated with perceptions of self-control during labor (p $<$.001) and sex of the baby (p =.0002). Other satisfying factors were family and staff support and ambiance of the birth setting. Some subjects in each group found labor to be exciting and challenging. Pain was described by other subjects in each group as the most unpleasant part of labor. Implications of this study are that each woman approaches labor as an individual and no one setting will be adequate to meet the needs of all women.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-05, Section: B, page: 1299.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1987.

School code: 0227.