Parents' views on partner support during labor

The descriptive study was carried out to determine the views of parents in our country on partner support during labor. The population of the study was formed by mothers in the postpartum unit of Elazığ Training and Research Hospital Gynecology Service who had their first vaginal delivery between weeks 37-42. The sample of the study was formed by 170 primipara mother and husband. The data were collected between 12th of September 2011 and 30th of March 2012 via face to face interviews with parents. SPSS for Windows (16.0) packaged software, chi-square in statistical analyses, Mann Whitney-U and t test for independent groups were used in the evaluation of the data. Among mothers participating in the study, the percentage for requesting partner support during labor was 67.6% whereas the percentage was 71.8% for their partners. MSPSS score averages of mothers who requested partner support during labor were higher compared to those who did not (p<0.05). Four out of five individuals whose needs for support during labor were not met by the healthcare personnel requested partner support (p<0.05). In our study, mothers who considered their delivery as negative mostly expressed their request for partner support (p<0.05). In line with these results, fathers were determined to be more willing to take part in the labor process compared to mothers and the mothers who request partner support during labor were also determined to have better social support. Moreover, mothers whose needs for support during labor were not met by the healthcare personnel were determined to have greater need for partner support. For this reason, it is recommended that parents should be considered in an integrated manner during labor. Keywords: Parents, MSPSS, Partner support, Social support.