Informing women during vaginal examinations

Abstract

In a small, multi-centre study conducted in three maternity units in Cambridgeshire, England, a prospective, analytical survey design employing postal questionnaires was used to investigate women's experiences of vaginal examinations in labour. An unselected, consecutive, random sample of 104 primiparae participated in the research of whom 73 returned completed questionnaires, a response rate of 70%. Regarding information-giving during vaginal examination in labour, approximately two thirds of women rated the information provided by midwives as good or very good, the equivalent figure for doctors being one third. A Likert scale addressing ten broad elements of information-giving generated a total of 715 responses of which 63% were positive, 18% were negative and 19% were in between. These findings suggested, on average, that while three fifths of women reported positive experiences of information giving, almost a fifth had negative experiences overall and a further fifth also had, mediocre communication experiences related to their vaginal examinations in labour.