Obstetric and psychological effects of psychoprophylactic preparation for childbirth.

Medical records, personal interviews about the childbirth experience, and self-administered attitudinal and socioeconomic data were obtained 1 to 3 days post partum in a large metropolitan hospital, for 249 women, 95 of whom had taken psychoprophylaxis training for childbirth prior to delivery. When controlled by parity, psychoprophylactic preparation was not related to any obstetric differences except for lower levels of anesthesia for both primiparas and multiparas and lower levels of analgesia among multiparas only. Preparation was significantly related to lower levels of pain and higher levels of enjoyment during childbirth, and these psychological benefits did not diminish when controlled for parity, socioeconomic status, and four sets of psychological and attitudinal characteristics.