Valérie Avignon, Sage-femme Clinicienne Spécialisée, Lausanne Perinatal Research Group, CHUV Lausanne
Are antenatal classes still relevant to the needs of today's women?
"Childbirth is a fabulous journey, but it is not without turbulence! "(René Frydman)
Among these turbulences, the negative experience of childbirth is one of the factors that can lead to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms. The aim of this work is to question antenatal classes. Built in the 1950s on pain control objectives, does it correspond to the needs of today's women in terms of education and training? Does it allows for the prevention of "turbulence", a bad experience of childbirth, the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms? A retrospective study conducted at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV, Switzerland) showed a relationship between antenatal classes and a reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress. However, surprisingly, the childbirth experience was worse for women who had undergone antenatal classes. This led us to question the adequacy of antenatal classes and the needs of expectant mothers. And it would seem that women are only moderately satisfied with the CHUV's antenatal classes and that the content is sometimes biased, incomplete or even very inadequate concerning the postpartum. Adaptations seem necessary in terms of content. But should we also adapt the form? Many methods of preparation for childbirth have been developed since the 1980s: is there a method that can promote the experience of childbirth and prevent the appearance of post-traumatic stress symptoms? It is to all these questions that this work tries to answer. "Childbirth is certainly a fabulous journey, but a journey must be prepared for... so let's find a way to prepare well for it.
