RESPONSES TO VAGINAL BIRTH AFTER CESAREAN SECTION
An article reporting the behaviors of women experiencing both cesarean and vaginal births is critiqued in this research. The article critiqued is as follows:
Fawcett, Jacqueline, Larraine Tulman, & Jane P. Spedden. (1994, March April). Responses to vaginal birth after cesarean section. Journal of Gynecological Nursing, 23(3), 253 259.
The three researchers are all qualified to perform the type of research reported in the critiqued article. Fawcett is a professor at the Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Tulman is an associated professor at the same institution. Spedden is a staff nurse in obstetrics at Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In developing the research problem, the authors noted that the proportion of cesarean sections to total births in the United States had risen from approximately five percent in 1968 to nearly 24 percent in 1989. The authors also observed that, while cesarean section led to improved outcomes for some complications of pregnancy, negative consequences were also associated with delivery by cesarean section. As a results of these anomalies, both physicians and women have begun to question the dictum "Once a cesarean, always a cesarean." Flowing from this skepticism has been an increase in vaginal deliveries for women who previously had delivered through low section cesareans. This type of delivery is referred to as VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and increased from 3.4 percent in 1980 to 18.5 percent in 1989.
The researchers noted that while the physical benefits of VBAC have been documented, the psychological effects remained largely unknown. The study reported in the critiqued article explored the reactions of women to VBAC.
The researchers reported in the critiqued article that only anecdotal comments had been reported on the perceptions of women experiencing VBAC. Additionally, these anecdotal co...