Throwing out the baby with the spa water?
Australia is now one of the safest countries in the world in which to be born. This is largely a result of the many advances in obstetric and neonatal medicine of the past 50 years. However, the "medicalisation" of birth has tended to diminish women's satisfaction with their experience of childbirth. It has been shown that women are most satisfied by care from a single practitioner, and when they themselves have input into decision-making. Although maternal satisfaction is important, it should not be promoted at the expense of the health of mothers and babies. More realistic antenatal education and preparation should be available for all pregnant women so that both maternal satisfaction and good perinatal outcomes can be achieved.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, James Cook University School of Medicine, Cairns Campus, PO Box 902, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia. Caroline.Decosta@jcu.edu.au
Caroline M
CM
de Costa
Stephen
S
Robson
D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006700:Home Childbirth / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008428:Maternal Mortality / Q000639:trends; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*