Effect of an Accompanying Midwife on Maternal Resilience and Preferred Route of Delivery in Pregnant Women

Pregnancy is one of the most important and stressful periods of women's lives. Recent studies have indicated an increasing trend in caesarean section rates. Although women are becoming more impatient and less resilient about vaginal delivery, raising awareness on stress management and resilience increases women’s readiness for the important task of motherhood. The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of an accompanying midwife on maternal resilience and preferred method of delivery in pregnant women.

This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was performed on pregnant women who were in the final month of pregnancy and referred to the Khatam-al-Anbia and Baghiyyatollah al-Azam hospitals in Tehran (Iran) for periodic examinations in 2018. Overall, 150 pregnant women (75 with an accompanying midwife and 75 without an accompanying midwife) were selected using simple random sampling. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale was used to assess maternal resilience. In addition, the delivery preference (natural childbirth or cesarean section) was determined in the scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics at significance level of 0.05.

Pregnant women with an accompanying midwife had a significantly higher mean resilience score than those without an accompanying midwife (P=0.002). Moreover, the resilience score had a significant impact on subjects’ preferred route of delivery (P <0.01).

The findings of this study show that pregnant women accompanied by a midwife during pregnancy have better resilience and tendency towards vaginal delivery.