The association of birth model with resilience variables and birth experience: Home versus hospital birth.
OBJECTIVE
to study home, natural hospital, and medical hospital births, and the association of these birth models to resilience and birth experience.


METHODS
cross-section retrospective design.


METHODS
participants were recruited via an online survey system. Invitations to participate were posted in five different Internet forums for women on maternity leave, from September 2014 to August 2015.


METHODS
the sample comprised 381 post partum healthy women above the age of 20, during their maternity leave. Of the participants: 22% gave birth at home, 32% gave birth naturally in a hospital, and 46% of the participants had a medical birth at the hospital.


METHODS
life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R), General Self-Efficacy Scale, Sense of Mastery Scale, Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ).


RESULTS
women having had natural births, whether at home or at the hospital, significantly differed from women having had medical births in all aspects of the birth experience, even when controlling for age and optimism. Birth types contributed to between 14% and 24% of the explained variance of the various birth experience aspects.


CONCLUSIONS
home and natural hospital births were associated with a better childbirth experience. Optimism was identified as a resilience factor, associated both with preference as well as with childbirth experience.


CONCLUSIONS
physically healthy and resilient women could be encouraged to explore the prospect of home or natural hospital births as a means to have a more positive birth experience.
The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, School of Behavioral Sciences, 14 Rabenu Yeruham st., P.O.B 8401, Tel-Aviv 68114, Israel. Electronic address: Jonathanh@013.net.
Jonathan E
JE
Handelzalts
The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, School of Behavioral Sciences, 14 Rabenu Yeruham st., P.O.B 8401, Tel-Aviv 68114, Israel.
Arni
A
Zacks
The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, School of Behavioral Sciences, 14 Rabenu Yeruham st., P.O.B 8401, Tel-Aviv 68114, Israel.
Sigal
S
Levy
D000328:Adult; D003696:Delivery Rooms / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006700:Home Childbirth / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008880:Midwifery / Q000592:standards; D009321:Natural Childbirth / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D011247:Pregnancy; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Childbirth experience; Home birth; Optimism; Resilience