title: Choice and birth method: mixed-method study of caesarean delivery for maternal request.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore whether women view decision-making surrounding vaginal or caesarean birth as their choice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal cohort study utilising quantitative (questionnaire, routinely collected data) and qualitative (in-depth interviews) methods simultaneously.
  
  
  METHODS
  A large hospital providing National Health Service maternity care in the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four-hundred and fifty-four primigravid women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women completed up to three questionnaires between their antenatal booking appointment and delivery. Amongst these women, 153 were interviewed at least once during pregnancy (between 24 and 36 weeks) and/or after 12 moths after birth. Data were also obtained from women's hospital delivery records. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed (survey and delivery data). Interview data were analysed using a seven-stage sequential form of qualitative analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whilst many women supported the principle of choice, they identified how, in practice their autonomy was limited by individual circumstance and available care provision. All women felt that concerns about their baby's or their own health should take precedence over personal preference. Moreover, expressing a preference for either vaginal or caesarean birth was inherently problematic as choice until the time of delivery was neither static nor final. Women did not have autonomous choice over their actual birth method, but neither did they necessarily want it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this large exploratory study suggest that choice may not be the best concept through which to approach the current arrangements for birth in the UK. Moreover, they challenge the notion of choice that currently prevails in international debates about caesarean delivery for maternal request.
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery Studies, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. ckingdon@uclan.ac.uk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kingdon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neilson
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Singleton
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gyte
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gabbay
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lavender
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000523:psychology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010298:Parity; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult