Journal article
Inequalities in childbirth experiences: a population-based cross-sectional survey in England during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Abstract:
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Background
Recognising and addressing inequalities in maternity experiences is crucial to ensuring equitable maternity care and optimal outcomes for all women and their families. This study aimed to compare the childbirth experiences of women with different sociodemographic characteristics using data from a population-based cross-sectional survey in England.
Methods
Analysis was conducted using data from a national maternity survey in England (N = 4,611). Respondents had given birth in May 2020, during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (aRR) for the association between maternal sociodemographic characteristics and childbirth experiences, with adjustment for birth-related factors.
Results
The majority of women reported positive childbirth experiences and satisfaction with their maternity care. For a significant minority of women, however, childbirth experiences were unsatisfactory. After mutual adjustment for sociodemographic factors and birth-related factors, identifying as a minority ethnic group (aRR range=1.41–2.74) and not cohabiting with the baby’s other parent (aRR range=1.52–1.99) were associated with poorer childbirth experiences. In addition to these sociodemographic factors, primiparity (aRR range=1.28–1.40) and instrumental birth (aRR range=1.42–2.77) or unplanned caesarean section (aRR range=1.83–3.88) were associated with poorer childbirth experiences.
Conclusions
A significant minority of women have poor childbirth experiences and are dissatisfied with their care. Sociodemographic characteristics and birth-related factors are both important in determining differences in childbirth experiences. Improved understanding of inequalities in childbirth experiences can help to inform interventions and policies to deliver better care to all women.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Under review
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
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(Preview, Submitted manuscript under review, pdf, 2.6MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.3310/nihropenres.13835.1
Authors
- Publisher:
- F1000Research
- Journal:
- NIHR Open Research More from this journal
- Volume:
- 5
- Article number:
- 31
- Publication date:
- 2025-04-10
- DOI:
- ISSN:
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2633-4402
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2093595
- Local pid:
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pubs:2093595
- Deposit date:
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2025-03-10
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Harrison et al
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © 2025 Harrison S et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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