A descriptive study to assess the knowledge and anxiety level of birth companion in relation to their support during childbirth and the influence of support on the outcome of labor among primipara women at selected hospitals of district Mohali, Punjab

This is a “Descriptive study to assess the Knowledge and Anxiety Level of Birth Companion in Relation to their Support during Childbirth and the Influence of Support on the Outcome of Labor among Primipara Women at Selected Hospitals of District Mohali, Punjab.”

A women’s pain during childbirth is unique to each mother and influenced by a variety of factors such as culture, anxiety, fear, previous birth experience, childbirth preparation and support given by the health team members. Continuous support can be used to decrease anxiety in the delivery room. Pre-labor sessions help to decrease anxiety in expectant mothers and help them to have control of the situation they face. Support by a companion of the mother’s during labor and delivery had a positive effect on her satisfaction with the birth experience.

Objectives of the study: To assess the level of knowledge of Birth Companion in relation to their Support in Childbirth among primipara women at selected hospitals of district Mohali, Punjab, To assess the level of Anxiety of Birth Companion in relation to their Support in Childbirth among primipara women, To assess the outcome of labor among primipara women in the influence of support provided by the birth companion during labor.

Methodology: Research methodology is also called Research Design, Research Plan or Research Strategy of a research study that gives guidelines which direct the research steps, the research study process and enables in systematic data collection, logical data organization and accurate data analysis and data interpretation. After approval the ethical committee, a study was conducted on 50Primipara women, 50 birth Companions selected by Convenient sample technique, Self-structured interview schedule to assess the knowledge and anxiety level, Check list to assess the level of support to women throughout the labor process, Tool to assess the experience and outcome of labor after the presence of birth companion Content Validity (determined by expert) and reliability (0.76 by correlation coefficient) was checked and data was collected. Data was analyzed by Descriptive and Inferential statistics.

Results: The present study results revealed that majority 70% Birth Companion had average knowledge, 22% Birth Companion had good knowledge and only 8% of Birth Companion had poor knowledge in relation to their Support in Childbirth among primipara women. In this the level of anxiety shows that majority 88% Birth Companion had moderate level of anxiety, 12% Birth Companion had high level of anxiety, and noun of them had low level of anxiety in relation to their Support in Childbirth among primipara women, The present study finding depicts that majority 56% of Birth Companion provide high support, 14% Birth Companion provide moderate support and 30% Birth Companion provide low support during labor among primipara women. The present study finding depicts the frequency and percentage of primipara Woman Regarding Perception of birthing experience. During labor as per the diagram majority 80% of primipara were moderately satisfied 10% were highly satisfied and 10% were not at all satisfied in the influence of support provided by the birth companion during labor in selected hospitals.

Conclusion: The present study shows that birth companion had an overall moderate knowledge of labor process regarding the care to be given for the woman in labor. Levels of anxiety shows that majority of the birth companion had moderate anxiety related to labor. A majority of the birth companions provided a moderate support to the woman throughout labor. A view of woman regarding birthing experience as most of the women was moderately satisfied with the support given by birth companion. The presence of birth companion provides moderate satisfaction for the woman in labor.

Recommendations: The study can be replicated on the large sample to validate and generalize its findings.