The effect of women's vaginal examination experiences during normal childbirth to the birth satisfaction

ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF WOMEN'S VAGINAL EXAMINATION EXPERIENCES DURING NORMAL CHILDBIRTH TO THE BIRTHSATISFACTION Ferda A. Aydın Adnan Menderes Universty, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Midwifery, M.Sc., Aydın, 2024. Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of women's vaginal examination experiences during the childbirth process on their birth satisfaction. Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted with women who gave vaginal births at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Kepez State Hospital in Antalya between March and July 2024. The population of the study consisted of 1,860 women who had vaginal deliveries at the hospital between January and December 2023, while the sample size included 271 women. Data were collected using the Women's Demographic Form and the Normal Birth Maternal Satisfaction Assessment Scale. The data analysis was performed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for Windows 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive statistical methods such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and minimum-maximum values were used in data evaluation. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to assess the normality of the numerical data. Since the data were normally distributed, the Student's t-test was used for comparisons of two groups, and One-Way ANOVA was used for comparisons of three or more groups. For post-hoc analysis, Tukey's test was applied. A significance level of p < 0.05 was accepted. Results: Of the women participating in the study, 42.1% were foreign nationals. The mean age of the women was 26.66 ± 5.11 years, and 84.9% lived in nuclear family structures. Among the participants, 26.6% were primiparous, 45% found the vaginal examination painful, 60.9% felt discomfort during the vaginal examination, and 18.5% had considered refusing the examination. Additionally, 48% rated the frequency of vaginal examinations as moderate, with an average of 3.92 ± 2.51 vaginal exams. It was found that 78.2% of women received prior consent from midwives before the vaginal examination, 76.4% were given an explanation regarding the examination, 71.6% felt more at ease with the explanation, and 93% had their privacy maintained. The average total score on the Normal Birth Maternal Satisfaction Assessment Scale was 158.21 ± 20.45, with 64.9% of women reporting high birth satisfaction. Women who did not find vaginal examination stressful, did not experience discomfort during the examination, did not consider refusing the examination, and perceived the frequency of vaginal examinations as very low/low or moderate had higher birth satisfaction levels (p > 0.05). Women who reported that they had received consent before the vaginal examination, had been given explanations, had their privacy protected, found the midwives to be very careful during the examination, had positive emotional communication with the midwife during the examination, and reported that no one else was present except the midwife during the examination also had higher scores on the Normal Birth Maternal Satisfaction Assessment Scale (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The study found that approximately two-thirds of women had high levels of satisfaction with the birth process. Lower frequencies of vaginal examinations and other childbirth interventions, along with positive midwifery approaches, were identified as factors that enhanced women's birth satisfaction. Keywords: Gynecological Examination, Birth, Woman, Patient satisfaction, Midwifery