NATURAL CHILDBIRTH - REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • review article
    • Vol. 52  (3) , 371-379
Abstract
A review and critique of the literature relating to the effectiveness of psychoprophylaxis (natural childbirth) is made. A variety of methodologic errors have confounded the measurement of treatment effects. An outline of these issues is presented. An elucidation of the relationship between treatment and outcome cannot occur until researchers become aware of certain factors that are essential to the validity of their experiments. These factors include the following: the use of a random assignment of subjects to treatment and control groups; the inclusion of a group of controls that receive an attention-placebo treatment; the utilization of obstetricians who are unaware of the type of preparation their patients have received; a careful specification of the details of each treatment procedure; and the utilization of psychologic tests that are appropriate for the purpose of measuring pain and anxiety reduction.