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CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A STUDY OF WOMEN PARTICIPANTS AND NON-PARTICIPANTS
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify, examine and compare the relationships of selected demographic variables, participational barriers, and learning orientations of parturient women who participated in Childbirth Education programs with women who did not participate in such programs. The study investigated the following objectives: (1)to examine the relationship between certain demographic variables and participation/non-participation in childbirth education programs, (2)to identify the learning orientations of married women participating in childbirth education programs and compare them with those not participating in such programs, (3)to examine the relationship between learning orientations and barriers to participation in childbirth education programs, and (4)to examine the relationship between demographic variables and barriers to participation in childbirth education programs. The basic source of information used in this study was a survey questionnaire consisting of three separate sections. The first section of the instrument sought demographic information from the subject. The second section sought information on the perceived and actual barriers to participation in childbirth education programs, and the third was the Continuing Learning Orientation Index (Sheffield, 1964). A random sample of 201 postpartum married women was obtained based upon the criterion of normalcy during the childbearing period and physician permission for participation. Each subject completed the survey during their immediate postpartum hospital confinement. Of the sample, 109 women responded to the questionnaire as recent participants in childbirth education programs. Ninety-two women responded as non-participants in any form of childbirth education during their most recent pregnancy. Data were analyzed using frequencies, means, chi-square computations, analyses of variance procedures and factor analysis (of the Continuing Learning Orientation Index). An analysis of the demographic information of each group (participants and non-participants) indicated that the participants were younger and more highly educated while the non-participants had experienced more pregnancies, had more children, and had been married considerably longer than the participants. Participants were first-time attenders and had experienced their first pregnancy and birth. Non-participants indicated previous attendance at some form of childbirth educational offering with an earlier pregnancy. Analysis of the learning orientations of each group produced the same five factors: knowledge orientation, sociability orientation, need-fulfillment orientation, occupational orientation and creativity-social outlet orientation. Participants were more likely to possess a knowledge orientation toward continuing learning than non-participants. Analysis of the perceived and actual barriers to participation indicated the major source for non-participation. Dispositional barriers to participation in childbirth education programs were identified by a majority of the subjects. These barriers involved personal choice, previous attendance, and no desire to attend formal classes. The major factors found to influence participation revolved around the process of childbearing itself. Women with previous childbirth experience or previous attendance at childbirth education programs apparently felt no need for further participation. The women who attended childbirth education programs did so in order to obtain necessary information and knowledge concerning the events of labor and delivery. Once the mystery of childbirth had been experienced, the need for formal classes in childbirth education apparently lessened. The comparison of these groups revealed significant differences between the two groups indicating a need for innovative, separate and alternative methods of childbirth education.
Subject Area
Adult education|Continuing education
Recommended Citation
VINAL, DONNA JEAN FREDE, "CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A STUDY OF WOMEN PARTICIPANTS AND NON-PARTICIPANTS" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8118068.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8118068