Preparation during pregnancy and ability to cope with labor and delivery.
Within nine weeks following childbirth, 279 new mothers were interviewed to determine effects of preparation for labor and delivery on their perceptions of childbirth and their babies. The more preparation a woman had, the more aware she was at delivery, and that awareness was strongly associated with positive reactions to the birth and the baby. These findings are interpreted in terms of theory on coping with stress.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001290:Attitude; D001364:Awareness; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D009321:Natural Childbirth; D011247:Pregnancy; D013315:Stress, Psychological