Abstract
BackgroundVaginal examination (VE), is a frequent procedure during childbirth. It is the most accepted ways to assess progress during childbirth, but its repetition at short intervals has no value. Over years, VE continued to be plagued by a nature that implies negative feelings and experiences of women. The aim of this exploratory qualitative study was to explore women’s feelings, opinions, knowledge and experiences of vaginal examinations (VE) during normal childbirth.MethodsWe interviewed 176 postpartum women using semi-structured questionnaire in a Palestinian public hospital in the oPt. Descriptive statistics were conducted; frequency counts and percentages for the quantitative questions. The association between the frequency of VE and age, parity, years of education, locale and the time of delivery was tested by Chi-squared and Fisher’s Exact test. The open-ended qualitative questions were read line-by-line for the content and coded. The assigned codes for all responses were entered to the SPSS statistical software version 18.ResultsAs compared with WHO recommendations, VE was conducted too frequently, and by too many providers during childbirth. The proportion of women who received a ‘too high’ frequency of VEs during childbirth was significantly larger in primipara as compared to multipara women (P = .037). 82% of women reported pain or severe pain and 68% reported discomfort during VE. Some women reported insensitive approaches of providers, insufficient means of privacy and no respect of dignity or humanity during the exam.ConclusionsPalestinian women are undergoing unnecessary and frequent VEs during childbirth, conducted by several different providers and suffer pain and discomfort un-necessarily.Practice implicationsAdhering to best evidence, VE during childbirth should be conducted only when necessary, and if possible, by the same provider. This will decrease the laboring women’s unnecessary suffering from pain and discomfort. Providers should advocate for women’s right to information, respect, dignity and privacy.
Highlights
Vaginal examination (VE), is a frequent procedure during childbirth
Study setting This is an exploratory study conducted in a general referral governmental hospital where about 4,000 births occur each year in the occupied Palestinian territory
Around 68% of women had more than 9 years of education and the majority (74%) lived in rural areas. 26% of women were primipara and 6% had more than 7 children
Summary
Vaginal examination (VE), is a frequent procedure during childbirth. VE continued to be plagued by a nature that implies negative feelings and experiences of women The aim of this exploratory qualitative study was to explore women’s feelings, opinions, knowledge and experiences of vaginal examinations (VE) during normal childbirth. Few studies examined women’s experiences of VE during childbirth [17,18], or explored providers’ actual practices [19,20] and none explored it in developing countries or the Middle East region
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