Normal Birth

[arabianeyez83]

i am trying to come up with a questionnaire to understand rn opinions on normal birth. i will use it as a pretest, then do some interventions, and then do a post test to see if some attitudes about normal birth has changed.

any opinions or comments ?

[Altra, BSN, RN]

The WHO uses the word "normal" for births that occur without the use of any interventions. Lamaze used to throw that word around all the time, but have realized that some people get very offended by it. In this context, "normal" can feel quite judgmental, even though advocates of normal birth understand what is really meant by it.

OP, perhaps change your wording to natural, unintervened birth?

Though OB is not my specialty, I considered the OP's use of the term "normal" incredibly, insensitively judgemental until I read your post referencing the WHO's use of the term. I still think it carries connotations which are counter-productive to the OP's stated desire to "intervene" and change attitudes toward birth containing medical interventions.

[arabianeyez83]

Thank you, those are some great questions. It's a start, I don't think anyone is going to want to write a long description, so I need to make these questions pretty much yes or no, or use a likert scale. I did not mean to offend anyone. The midwives named this project "return to normalcy", but I will let them know about some of the feedback I received by calling it "normal birth."

[arabianeyez83]

Thank you, those are some great questions. It's a start, I don't think anyone is going to want to write a long description, so I need to make these questions pretty much yes or no, or use a likert scale, or maybe even a survey given to the RN's after a delivery to see there thoughts on what interventions they thought were and were not necessary. I did not mean to offend anyone. The midwives named this project "return to normalcy", but I will let them know about some of the feedback I received by calling it "normal birth."

[dreamworx07]

There is no normal birth. A healthy baby and mom is about as normal as it gets!! :-)