THE CHOICE OF MATERNITY SERVICE BY PREGNANT WOMEN: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS.
Item
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Title
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THE CHOICE OF MATERNITY SERVICE BY PREGNANT WOMEN: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS.
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Identifier
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AAI8713811
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identifier
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8713811
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Creator
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WINDSOR, AHUVA.
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Contributor
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Leanne Rivlin
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Date
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1987
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Women in their first and second pregnancies, including patients of midwives and obstetricians, planning to deliver in hospitals, a birthing center and homes, were interviewed about their choices of maternity services.;Having made an active choice of a maternity service was important to all. Limitations on freedom of choice were traced to the insurance industry, regarding the malpractice insurance crisis as the cause for a decrease in the number and variety of available maternity services, and to reimbursement policies with limited coverage or which favor hospitals. Individual circumstances, such as physical conditions or financial situation were identified as enhancing or limiting freedom of choice. While aware of their limited control over structural factors affecting their care, women did believe they could gain control on an individual level. The act of service choice was one way to affect care, as was collecting information to affect treatment decisions of attendants.;Three issues underlied women's choices: physical safety, emotional comfort, and control. They were related to one another in perspectives on pregnancy, childbirth and available services, and in the choice process. Physical safety was most important to everybody, holding a medical meaning for respondents opting for hospital care but not for their counterparts opting for out-of-hospital birth. Comfort was seen by obstetricians' patients as inevitably lost in hospitals, but as attainable by midwives' patients opting for in-hospital birth and by those opting for out-of-hospital settings. Total control over care was realized as unattainable by all; instead, respondents focussed on control over activities during labor.;Their previous experiences made respondents in second pregnancies more informed about pregnancy and childbirth, and about their needs and expectations from a service than those in their first. Yet respondents in the two pregnancy groups did not differ in the nature of their choice process, and in the reasons they used in selecting services.;Findings indicate the importance of contextual factors to the study of real-life decision making. These factors strongly influenced both the process and the final service choice.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
