New mothers’ feelings of disappointment and failure after cesarean delivery

Background Childbirth is an important life event and how women feel in retrospect about their first childbirth may have long‐term effects on the mother, child, and family. In this study, we investigated the association between mode of delivery at first childbirth and birth experience, using a new scale developed specifically to measure women's affective response. Methods This was a prospective cohort study of 3006 women who were interviewed during pregnancy and 1‐month postpartum. The First Baby Study Birth Experience Scale was used to measure the association between mode of delivery and women's postpartum feelings about their childbirth, taking into account relevant confounders, including maternal age, race, education, pregnancy intendedness, depression, social support, and maternal and newborn complications by way of linear and logistic regression models. Results Women who had unplanned cesarean delivery had the least positive feelings overall about their first childbirth, in comparison to those whose deliveries were spontaneous vaginal (P