Psychological consequences of caesarean childbirth in primiparas

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Abstract
Semi-structured interviews were administered to 103 caesarean and 103 vaginally delivered mothers, 3–6 days after birth. In the immediate post-partum period, surgically delivered mothers reported more pain and more frequently expressed themselves as being depressed. In general terms, mothers' negative perceptions of caesarean childbirth were outlined. The main negative consequences of surgical delivery were related to their inability to witness and to participate in the birth event. The negative impact of unplanned caesarean delivery and the value of local rather than general anaesthesia were demonstrated. Differences in mother-infant relationships centred on time and quality of the first contact; there was no evidence of differences in mothers' comments on the newborn 3–6 days after birth. Caesarean-delivered mothers more frequently assumed that a surgical delivery had physiological and psychological adverse effects upon the newborn. Almost half of the fathers would have wished to attend the surgical birth. The mothers' need for prenatal caesarean education was not clearly expressed.