Abstract

• Recent research reported that postpartum mothers showed different responses according to the type of delivery, and though most mothers preferred vaginal delivery to cesarean section, the numbers of negative comments about the delivery experience were higher in a vaginal delivery group than in a cesarean section group. This study set out to understand the meaning of vaginal delivery as perceived by mother who delivered their babies vaginally and how the mothers felt about their delivery experience. The subjects of this study were 17 primiparous mothers right after vaginal delivery in one university affiliated hospital. Data were collected from March to April, 1992 through interviews lasting 20~30 minutes using open ended questions about the delivery experience. The data were analyzed by Giorgi's phenomenological analysis method and categorized according to similarity of content. The meaning of the vaginal delivery was grouped in to four categories and the reason for vaginal in to three. One category of the meaning of vaginal delivery was pain, consisting of the subcategorics too painful, want to be rid of the pain, unbearable pain and bearable pain. Another category was a sense of accomplishment containing the subgroups wonderful, good and being finished, The third category was the feeling of becoming a mother. The fourth category was that of not having any sense yet of the experience. The reasons for preference for vaginal delivery to a cesarean section were categorized in to the instinctive thinking that vaginal delivery was the natural method, a shortened period of recovery and lower incidence of complications and s stronger feeling of maternal identity.

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