Abstract:

This study concerning birth investigated the adult psychological and spiritual effects of those individuals born via labor cesarean section utilizing quantitative and qualitative research methods. A labor cesarean section is defined as a cesarean section performed after the onset of labor. A demographic questionnaire, the Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised, the Spirituality Assessment Scale, and a birth questionnaire were completed by 64 adults, 57 women and 7 men. The participants, aged 18 to 58 years, were divided into 3 groups: the vaginally born (n = 20), the nonlabor cesarean born ( n = 20), and the labor cesarean born (n = 24). A comparison of the 3 birth groups. data from the Symptoms Checklist-90-R and the Spirituality Assessment Scale was made using one-way analysis of variance. The qualitative data from the birth questionnaire were analyzed using a grounded theory method. The quantitative analysis revealed reduced mean scores on the Somatization (p = .043), Obsessive-Compulsive (p = .014), and Anxiety (p = .049) subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90-R as compared to the vaginally born group. A post hoc Bonferroni analysis found the difference between the 3 groups on these 3 subscales to be due to the vaginal group. However, due to the multiple comparisons of this study the experiment-wise error rate may be inflated leading to an increased chance of Type I errors. No correlation was found between labor cesarean birth and adult spirituality. The qualitative analysis (grounded theory) did not reveal any differences between the 3 birth groups. These results contradicted the work of other researchers in this field and suggested that further research is needed on the possible long-term psychological and spiritual consequences of birth.