ArticleBMJ open2023
What women want if they were to have another baby: the Australian Birth Experience Study (BESt) cross-sectional national survey.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of nonpharmacological interventions to improve trauma symptoms and mother-infant bonding for women who experience birth trauma.Australian occupational therapy journal · 2026Pooled it
- The Perinatal Experience of Women With a History of Intimate Partner Violence: The Birth Experience Study.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Midwifery Care: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis.Nursing open · 2025Review
- Navigating emotions, communication, and pain during prehospital labour: a mixed-methods survey with emergency ambulance services.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Differences in women's experiences of labour according to type of fetal monitoring: a quantitative analysis of an Australian national survey.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Weaving birth: interdependence and the fungal turn.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Patient preference of level I, II and III sleep diagnostic tests to diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea among pregnant women in early to mid-gestation.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2024Article
- The impact of severe perinatal events on maternity care providers: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- A content analysis of women's experiences of different models of maternity care: the Birth Experience Study (BESt).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore if Australian women would do anything differently if they were to have another baby. DESIGN AND
settingThe Birth Experience Study (BESt) online survey explored pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences for women who had given birth during 2016-2021 in Australia.
participantsIn 2021, 8804 women responded to the BESt survey and 6101 responses to the open text responses to the survey question 'Would you do anything different if you were to have another baby?' were analysed using inductive content analysis.
resultsA total of 6101 women provided comments in response to the open text question, resulting in 10 089 items of coding. Six categories were found: 'Next time I'll be ready' (3958, 39.2%) described how women reflected on their previous experience, feeling the need to better advocate for themselves in the future to receive the care or experience they wanted; 'I want a specific birth experience' (2872, 28.5%) and 'I want a specific model of care' (1796, 17.8%) highlighted the types of birth and health provider women would choose for their next pregnancy. 'I want better access' (294, 2.9%) identified financial and/or geographical constraints women experience trying to make choices for birth. Two categories included comments from women who said 'I don't want to change anything' (1027, 10.2%) and 'I don't want another pregnancy' (142, 1.4%). Most women birthed in hospital (82.9%) and had a vaginal birth (59.2%) and 26.7% had a caesarean.
conclusionOver 85% of comments left by women in Australia were related to making different decisions regarding their next birth choices. Most concerningly women often blamed themselves for not being more informed. Women realised the benefits of continuity of care with a midwife. Many women also desired a vaginal birth as well as better access to birthing at home.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.