Iranian mothers' selection of a birth method in the context of perceived norms: a content analysis study

Abstract

Objective: to describe women's perceptions of choosing a particular birth method; normal childbirth or caesarean section in the absence of medical indications.

Design: a descriptive qualitative content analysis was used for data gathering and analysis. Interviews were held with 18 pregnant and postnatal women. The participants were recruited using a purposive sampling method. Interviews were begun with a general question and were followed with specific questions.

Setting: three semi-public and public hospitals and two health care centres in an urban area of Iran were the locations of data gathering. Data analysis and data collection were conducted concurrently and interviews were discontinued when data saturation was reached.

Participants: the participants consisted of 18 women (four pregnant and 14 postnatal) recruited using a purposive sampling method.

Findings: 'socio-economic and cultural norms' was the main theme that emerged in this study. Four other categories comprised the content of interviews: 'cultural and religious acceptance', 'social acceptance', 'psychological-social support', and 'economical acceptance'.

Conclusions and implications: socio-cultural, religious and economical norms in the Iranian society play main roles in the selection of the birth method by Iranian women. Health care policy-makers are expected to attend to the factors influencing women's decision-making on the childbirth method to reduce the number of unnecessary caesarean sections.

Keywords: Caesarean section; Iranian women; Maternal request; Socio-cultural norms.