Clinical Studies
Women's Perceptions of Nursing Support during Labor

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1994.tb01933.xGet rights and content

Objective

: To determine which nursing support behaviors new mothers rate as most helpful in assisting them to cope with labor.

Design

: A retrospective study using quantitative and qualitative approaches, including a ranking of means and a content analysis.

Setting

: The postpartum unit of a tertiary‐care hospital in eastern Canada.

Participants

: Eighty postpartum women, most Of whom were married, employed, and 20–33 years of age.

Interventions

: Within 72 hours of their labor women rated 25 nursing support behaviors. Main outcome measures: The perceived degree of helpfulness of 25 nursing support behaviors.

Results

: All 25 behaviors were perceived as helpful. The most helpful behaviors included making the woman feel cared about as an individual, giving praise, appearing calm and confident, assisting with breathing and relaxing, and treating the woman with respect. Behaviors in the emotional support category were the most helpful.

Conclusions

: Nurses can assist women to cope with the stress of labor. They must use a high degree of interpersonal skills in the care of laboring women in addition to being technically competent.

Section snippets

Theoretical Framework and Literature Review

The theoretical framework underlying the study was the Lazarus cognitive-phenomenological model of stress, appraisal, and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). This model provides a comprehensive basis for conceptualizing the labor experience. Coping with the stress of labor can be enhanced by personal and environmental coping resources, or it can be impeded by coping constraints. The focus of the current study was on the environmental coping resource of perceived social support. The Lazarus model

Method

After Kardex and chart review, a nonrandom convenience sample of 34 primiparae and 46 multiparae was selected from the postpartum unit of an urban general hospital. This institution is located on the outskirts of an eastern Canadian city and functions as a referral center for the province. Eligibility requirements for the study were that the women

  • 1.

    be able to read and speak English,

  • 2.

    have experienced an uncomplicated labor and vaginal delivery within the last 48-72 hours,

  • 3.

    have delivered a healthy

Results

The 80 participants rated the nursing support behaviors according to their degree of perceived helpfulness. Not all behaviors were experienced by each participant; the number of women rating each behavior varied from 80 to 44. The minimum and maximum ratings ranged from not helpful at all (1) to very helpful (5), whereas the mean ratings for all 25 behaviors were greater than 4.00. Behaviors were ranked from most to least helpful on the basis of the sample mean for each. Table 3 lists the 25

Discussion

All the 25 nursing support behaviors had mean ratings of 4.00 or greater; therefore they all were considered helpful. This finding is consistent with Kintz’s (1987) findings and suggests that even the lowest rated behaviors were helpful. Of the 25 nursing support behaviors, the most helpful behaviors included making the woman feel cared about as an individual, giving praise, appearing calm and confident, assisting with breathing and relaxing, treating the woman with respect, explaining hospital

Limitations

The results of this study cannot be generalized to other populations. Two variables not controlled for in the current study were socioeconomic status and ethnic background. These variables might influence the results if the study were replicated with another population. Also, the behaviors were rated in regard to the first stage of labor only and do not pertain to nursing care during delivery.

This study affirmed the helpfulness of selected nursing support behaviors for women in labor.

Implications for Practice

This study affirmed the helpfulness of selected nursing support behaviors for women in labor. Through the rating and subsequent ranking of 25 behaviors, knowledge regarding the care of the laboring woman has increased. This knowledge, if applied by nurses, may improve care for laboring women. Professional nurses play an important role in assisting women to cope with the stress of labor. If perceived coping with labor is a significant predictor of a positive birth experience, then nurses have

Conclusion

Nurses are important in assisting women to cope with the stress of labor. The professional nurse is obligated to provide individualized care for each laboring woman. Interpersonal skills, as well as technical competence, are needed by nurses assisting women to cope with labor.

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