The efficacy of childbirth education classes on mothers attitudes towards mode of delivery

Background: Elective caesarean section (without any medical indications) has more complications than normal delivery for mothers and babies. Unfortunately, due to various reasons such as the unawareness and misconception of pregnant mothers, its rate is increasing. Any enhanced maternal awareness can increase mothers desire for normal delivery. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of maternity classes on the attitude of pregnant mothers towards the mode of delivery Methods: This study was a quasi-interventional research performed on 130 pregnant women in their 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, attending physiologic delivery training courses in the obstetrics ward of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj in 2016.A Maternity Delivery Method Questionnaire (consisting of 7 domains) was completed for each participant. The mothers were trained in 8 physiologic delivery sessions as instructed by the Ministry of Health. After the end of education, the questionnaire was completed by the mother again, to compare the attitudes before and after the course. Finally, type of delivery was recorded and the relationship between the attitude of pregnant mothers and their type of delivery was evaluated.Statistical analysis: T-test, Paired-T-test and ꭓ2 were used to analyze the data. P-values <0.05 were considered as significant levels Results: In this study, the attitude of mothers before and after physiologic delivery education regarding the choice of delivery method was investigated. Before the education , %37.7 of mothers wanted to have normal delivery versus %1.5 who wanted cesarean section, %60.8 of mothers were unsure about their delivery type choice. After the education 70% of the mothers were willing to give natural birth, 30% were skeptical about their delivery, and nobody was willing to undergo cesarean section .The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 7 domains: 1. Beliefs and attitudes, 2. Sexuality, 3. Paternity delivery, 4. Comfort-saving and helping, 5. Social and cultural norms, 6. Search and acquired resources, 7. Personal performance and selection. In the first six constructs, a significant relationship was found between training and attitude, but in one structure (search and acquired resources), no significant relationship was found between education and attitude of mothers. The effect of physiological delivery classes on type of delivery was investigated too. Because 29 cesarean sections were of the emergency type and there was only one case of elective cesarean section, type of delivery showed no significant relationship with scores of questionnaire. Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of maternity preparation classes on the attitude of mothers in choosing their mode of delivery, it is recommended that to increase the awareness and positive attitude of pregnant women towards the mode of delivery, and also to reduce the rate of elective cesarean sections, these trainings be provided for mothers along with other prenatal care services.

کلیدواژه ها:

Pregnancy ، Education ، Physiologic delivery ، Normal delivery ، Cesarean section