Burden of childbirth

Summary

Background: Aims of this investigation were to study the subjective psychological and physical stressful experience of childbirth burden on a scale with 7 choises and to determine physical and psychosocial factors, which influence delivery experience.

Methods: Information on sociodemographic data, physical and psychiatric anamnesis, as well as obstetrical and psychological variables were gained through a structured interview. This was carried out on 1250 women on the fifth postnatal day at the maternity ward.

Results: According to the burden of childbirth score all 1250 women were divided into three subgroups. Group A (low burden, n = 433), group B (medium burden, n = 516) and group C (high burden, n = 301). The comparison between these three groups with respect to burden of childbirth revealed sig-nificant differences for length and mode of delivery, parity, pregnancy risk factors, gestational age at delivery, prior psychopharmacologic medication, occupational satisfaction, trait anxiety and depressive mood. The multiple logistic regression analysis between group A and group C showed that length of delivery had the strongest impact on burden of childbirth followed by depressive mood, elevated trait anxiety score, mode of delivery (emergency cesarean section and delivery by vacuum extraction provide significant higher burden scores than elective cesarean section and spontaneous delivery), and occupational satisfaction (higher occupational satisfaction correlates with low burden of childbirth).

Conclusions: In summary, burden of childbirth assessed on the fifth postnatal day is a result of a complex interaction between physical and psychological factors, whereby physical stressors such as length of labor, emergency surgical delivery and affective alterations such as elevated trait anxiety, depressive mood, and job satisfaction seem to be of predominant relevance.