EVALUATION OF CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION.
Contributors: St. Louis University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 99
Subjects: Health Sciences, Education.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Human Development.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: Three questionnaires were developed to examine the relationship between what couples learn in childbirth education classes and their subjective evaluation of the birth experience postpartum. Questionnaire One was an achievement type test of information taught in the course. It also asked about subjects' attitudes towards the information and techniques presented in the course. Questionnaire Two allowed subjects to evaluate their childbirth experience. The third questionnaire, the Nurses' Questionnaire, was completed by the labor room nurse. It collected basic medical information, and assessed the subjects' usage of the psychoprophylactic technique.

Seventy five couples, mothers and their coaches, completed the study. The original hypothesis, that specific factors would be more closely related to positive birth experiences than others, was not supported. Indeed, specific factors were not found to exist, suggesting that the information taught in childbirth preparation courses is of a more gestalt nature than originally postulated. No relationship was found to exist between knowledge of information taught in the classes and satisfaction with the childbirth experience. The single significant correlation was between a combination of use of techniques and difficulty of labor, both as reported by the labor room nurse, and positive evaluation of the childbirth experience.

The results from this study support the belief that psychological factors are important outcomes of childbirth training. They suggest that two theories from the literature in psychology: cognitive dissonance and person-environment fit, influence subjects' evaluation of their childbirth experience. The findings also highlight the importance of the labor room personnel, in that they have a major impact upon the couple's evaluation of their childbirth experience. Finally, it indicates that further research into the psychological outcomes associated with childbirth preparation is appropriate.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: B, page: 2551.

Thesis (PH.D.)--SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0193.