Slightly over half (54 per cent) of new Canadian mothers rate their labour and birth experience as "very positive," according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

Of women who gave birth during a three-month window in 2006, another one-quarter (26 per cent) said the experience was somewhat positive, while the remaining 20 per cent ranked it as neutral or negative.

More than half of women (57 per cent) described the year prior to giving birth as somewhat stressful or very stressful. The most frequently cited sources of stress were moving to a new home, serious illness of a close family member, arguing more than usual with a partner, death of someone close or financial difficulties.
Ratings of birth experiences did not vary much with age, region, type of delivery and whether women were having their first child or a later one, StatsCan said.

However, women who received care from a midwife were more likely to rate their experience as very positive (71 per cent) than those cared for by obstetricians or gynecologists, family doctors, nurses or nurse practitioners (53 per cent).
 

That said, the majority of women were happy with their caregivers, with three-quarters saying they were very satisfied with their competence, treatment of their privacy and involvement in decisions. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) were very satisfied with the compassion shown by their caregivers, while 62 per cent were happy with the information they provided.

The survey -- the first-ever national snapshot of maternity experiences in Canada -- included questions on the health of mothers and babies, satisfaction with health care, infant feeding, smoking, alcohol and drug use, physical and sexual abuse, stressful life events and postpartum depression.

StatsCan conducted it on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada, talking to 6,421 mothers when their babies were an average of seven months old.

SOURCE :The Calgary Herald 2007