title: Birth experience of women conceiving with assisted reproduction: a prospective multicenter study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine how infertility and subsequent assisted reproductive treatment (ART) affect a woman's childbirth experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective multicenter case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited women pregnant with a singleton fetus after either ART (n = 324) or spontaneous conception (n = 304) from five infertility clinics and one university maternity clinic in Finland.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied their childbirth experience with the Delivery Satisfaction Scale. We compared how psychosocial and obstetric factors affected satisfaction and dissatisfaction with childbirth between and within the ART and the control group. Logistic regression was then used to analyse the most important contributors to the experienced dissatisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dissatisfaction with childbirth was as common in the ART group (11%) as in the control (10%) group. In the ART group, the women's education level, cesarean section (CS) and their partner's absence from the delivery were associated with dissatisfaction. In the control group, significant factors for dissatisfaction were nulliparity, severe pregnancy-related anxiety, emergency CS, recalled intense pain and the partner's absence from the delivery. According to adjusted logistic regression analysis of the whole sample, the independent risk factors were elective CS [odds ratio (OR) 5.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-14.1] and emergency CS (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.3-6.5), recalled intense pain (OR 6.8; 95% CI 3.3-16.2) and the partner's absence from the delivery (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.1-7.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ART is not a risk factor for dissatisfaction with childbirth by itself. However, the contributors to an unsatisfactory childbirth differ partly between women conceiving with ART and those conceiving spontaneously.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Piia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poikkeus
authors.forename: Terhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saisto
authors.forename: Raija-Leena
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Punamaki
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Unkila-Kallio
authors.forename: Marjo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flykt
authors.forename: Sirpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vilska
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Repokari
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tulppala
authors.forename: Aila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tiitinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Childbirth experience; anxiety; assisted reproductive treatment; depression; fear of childbirth; singleton pregnancy