Women's experience with early labour management at home vs. in hospital: a randomised controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
to compare experiences with early labour assessment and support at home vs. by telephone.


METHODS
a randomised controlled trial of nurse home visits vs. telephone support for assessment and support of women in early labour.


METHODS
hospitals serving obstetrical populations in metropolitan and suburban Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


METHODS
healthy nulliparous women in labour at term with uncomplicated pregnancies participating in the third and fourth year of the trial.


METHODS
women were randomised to receive early labour assessment and support at home (n=241) and or to receive assessment and support by telephone (n=182).


METHODS
the Early Labour Experience Questionnaire (ELEQ), a 26-item self-administered questionnaire that measures women's experience with early labour care across three domains: emotional well-being, emotional distress and perceptions of nursing care.


RESULTS
women who received home visits rated their early labour experience more positively overall compared to women who received telephone support (103.14 ± 12.45 vs. 99.67 ± 13.11, p<.01)including perceptions of nursing care that they received (38.64 ± 2.90 vs. 36.82 ± 4.09, p<.001). However, women's affective experiences did not differ.


CONCLUSIONS
early labour nursing care provided at home is associated with a more positive experience of early labour compared to telephone support.
UBC School of Population and Public Health, MPH Program, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3. patti.janssen@ubc.ca
Patricia A
PA
Janssen
Sarah L
SL
Desmarais
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D001955:British Columbia; D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D010298:Parity; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires