Do mothers remember key events during labor?
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of maternal recall of key events during their most recent delivery.


METHODS
After institutional review board approval, women who were delivered at Loyola University Medical Center were recruited. Patients were asked a maximum of 13 questions about major labor management events that were applicable to the course of their delivery. Patient responses were compared with the delivery records.


RESULTS
We interviewed 277 ethnically diverse women with a median interval since delivery of 10 weeks and a mean age at delivery of 26 years. Forty percent of the women answered all questions correctly. Mothers with better recollection were more likely to be white, older, to have had more recent deliveries and were more likely to have had cesarean delivery.


CONCLUSIONS
Sixty percent of mothers cannot recall accurately at least one major labor management event. Studies that rely on patient recall of obstetric variables are likely to have high error rates.
Elkadry
Eman
E
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Loyola Medical Center, Maywood, ILL, USA.
Kenton
Kimberly
K
White
Paula
P
Creech
Steven
S
Brubaker
Linda
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D002585:Cesarean Section; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007747:Labor Stage, First; D007748:Labor Stage, Second; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People