Major Survey Findings of Listening to Mothers(SM) III: Pregnancy and Birth: Report of the Third National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences

Abstract

To understand the experiences and views of childbearing women in the United States and trends over time, Childbirth Connection carried out the third national Listening to Mothers survey among 2,400 women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals to a single baby from mid-2011 to mid-2012 and could participate in English. Harris Interactive conducted the survey using a validated methodology that includes data weighting to ensure that results closely reflect the target population. Results of the initial survey describe experiences from before pregnancy through the early postpartum period, and were reported in Listening to Mothers III: Pregnancy and Birth. A follow-up survey directed to the same participants explored postpartum experiences, attitudes about maternity care, and some additional pregnancy and birth items.

Keywords: U.S. childbearing experiences; childbearing surveys; childbearing women’s attitudes and views; childbirth experiences; postpartum experiences; pregnancy experiences.