When everything seems right: the first birth experience of women in an Italian hospital

Objective: To explore how women live the experience of giving birth and the treatment that they received in hospital, focusing on their needs and on their points of view. Design: An exploratory descriptive study using semi-structured interviews, conducted 1-3 days after childbirth. Setting: The postnatal ward of an Italian hospital. Participants: Twenty first-time mothers who had a vaginal birth. Measurements and findings: We conducted a qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti to code the data. Feeling in control versus trust in medical interventions, need of support during labour, and the importance of the birth environment were the main themes that emerged from the interviews. Satisfaction derived from how women experienced the aspects as outlined above and from their desire to retain a good memory of their first birth experience, consistent with the hospital culture that focused on this goal. Key conclusions and implications for practice: These results highlight the usefulness of a patient-centred approach and the centrality of the hospital context in shaping the birth experience. Indications for best practices may be derived from the reconstruction of women's stories.