First-time mothers' satisfaction with their birth experience: a cross-sectional study

Objective: To explore first-time mothers´satisfaction with their birth experience using Visual Analog Scale and to identify possible risk factors for a negative birth experience.
Design: A cross-sectional design using retrospective data collection from electronic medical files.
Setting: A birthing center in southern Sweden, which has approximately 1400 births annually.
Participants: Primiparous women (N = 584) who gave birth during 2017. The cut-off point for a negative birth experience was set as ≤ 4 on the Visual Analog Scale.
Measurements and findings: The mean age of the women was 29 years (SD 5.1; range 16–47 years). Prevalence of a negative birth experience was 9.6%. The strongest risk factors for a negative birth experience were having obstetric anal sphincter injuries (AOR 2.8 CI 95% 1.1–7.2) and oxytocin augmentation started in the first stage of labor (AOR 2.2 CI 95% 1.1–4.4).
Key conclusions: Women who had their labours augmented with oxytocin or sustained an anal sphincter injury were statistically significantly more likely to have a negative birth experience. However, it is uncertain whether the women scored pain experience or birth experience when they reported their satisfaction on the Visual Analog Scale; further investigation is required.
Implications for practice: It is important to use a reliable and validated instrument to measure birth experience in order to promote respectful and supportive care for new mothers.