Birth expectations, birth experiences and childbirth-related post-traumatic stress symptoms in mothers and birth companions: dyadic investigation using response surface analysis

Büyükcan Tetik, Asuman and Seefeld, Lara and Bergunde, Luisa and Ergun, Turan Deniz and Dikmen-Yildiz, Pelin and Horsch, Antje and Garthus-Niegel, Susan and Oosterman, Mirjam and Lalor, Joan and Weigl, Tobias and Bogaerts, Annick and Van Haeken, Sarah and Downe, Soo and Ayers, Susan (2024) Birth expectations, birth experiences and childbirth-related post-traumatic stress symptoms in mothers and birth companions: dyadic investigation using response surface analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology . ISSN 1359-107X (Print) 2044-8287 (Online) Published Online First https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12738

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Abstract

Objectives: During the perinatal period, women and their birth companions form expectations about childbirth. We aimed to examine whether a mismatch between birth expectations and experiences predict childbirth-related post-traumatic stress symptoms (CB-PTSS) for mothers and birth companions. We also explored the influence of the mismatch between mothers' and birth companions' expectations/experiences on CB-PTSS. Design: Dyadic longitudinal data from the Self-Hypnosis IntraPartum Trial. Methods: Participants (n = 469 mothers; n = 358 birth companions) completed questionnaires at 27 and 36 weeks of gestation and 2 and 6 weeks post-partum. We used the measures of birth expectations (36 weeks gestation), birth experiences (2 weeks post-partum) and CB-PTSS (6 weeks post-partum). Results: Correlations revealed that birth expectations were associated with experiences for both mothers and birth companions but were not consistently associated with CB-PTSS. Birth experiences related to CB-PTSS for both mothers and birth companions. The response surface analysis results showed no support for the effect of a mismatch between expectations and experiences on CB-PTSS in mothers or birth companions. Similarly, a mismatch between mothers' and birth companions' expectations or experiences was unrelated to CB-PTSS. Conclusions: Following previous literature, birth expectations were associated with experiences, and experiences were associated with CB-PTSS. By testing the effect of the match between birth experiences and expectations using an advanced statistical method, we found that experiences play a more substantial role than the match between experiences and expectations in CB-PTSS. The impact of birth experiences on CB-PTSS highlights the importance of respectful and supportive maternity care.
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: birth expectations; birth experiences; dyadic analysis; longitudinal data; post-traumatic stress symptoms; response surface analysis
Divisions: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences > Academic programs > Psychology
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Depositing User: Asuman Büyükcan Tetik
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2024 11:26
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2024 11:26
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/49581

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