How do women recall their birth experiences in the first years after birth?

This study was conducted with 280 women who applied to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Outpatient Clinic, Service, Family Planning Outpatient Clinic, Pediatric Health and Diseases Outpatient Clinic and Service in Istanbul Haydarpaşa Numune Training and Research Hospital (HNTRH) between December 2020 and July 2021 in the first one year after birth. It was done in descriptive type to determine how women remember their birth experiences. The data were collected through "Personal Information Form" (PIF), "Traumatic Birth Perception Scale" (TBPS) and "Birth Memory and Recall Scale" (BMRS). In the statistical analysis of the data; number, percentage, ,mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, maximum values, spearman correlation and lineer regression analyzes were used. The mean age of the women participating in the study is 29.25 ± 4.81 years. The mean score of the traumatic birth perception level of the women was 62.24±29.34, and the mean score of the birth memory and recall scale is 74.45±19.78. It was determined that there was a strong positive correlation between the women's TBPS and emotional memory, ambivalent emotional memory, centrality of memory, consistency, reliving, and BMRS total scores (p<0.01 It was found that 78.90% of the women remembered their birth positively and the average score of satisfaction with their most recent birth was 7.83±2.33. It was determined that the health professionals' providing adequate support (76.80%), being friendly, interested and knowledgeable (70.70%) and having enough time for themselves (64.60%) during delivery were effective in this situation. Age was found to be statistically on women's birth memories; on the other hand, being married, remembering the last birth experience negatively, education level, worrying about herself and her baby, and the postpartum period were found to be effective on the perception of traumatic birth (p<0.05). As a result, it was determined that women had moderate traumatic birth perception and negative birth memory. Despite this, it was determined that the majority of them remembered their births positively, were satisfied with their birth experiences, and the attitudes and behaviors of health professionals were effective in this situation.