Pain and emotions reported after childbirth and recalled six months later: The role of controllability

The aim of this longitudinal study was twofold: to investigate the relationship between subjectively evaluated control, positive and negative emotional feelings, and pain intensity during childbirth; to assess the recall of these aspects of childbirth experience six months after delivery. Participants were 123 women who delivered naturally and spoke fluent Italian. Results showed that both immediately after delivery and six months later, higher subjective controllability was related to less severe reported pain, more intense positive emotions and less intense negative emotions. Furthermore, although there was no significant bias in the vividness of the recall, six months after delivery women reported higher subjective controllability, more intense positive emotions, less intense negative emotions, and less intense pain. It is concluded that in preparing women for childbirth, two aspects deserve particular attention: the enhancement of subjectively perceived controllability and the possibility to work on both negative and positive emotions.