Maternal attitudes in prepared and unprepared cesarean deliveries.

Cesarean preparation classes were instituted in an Eastern hospital and are described here briefly. One hundred and forty-three prepared and unprepared women delivering vaginally and by cesarean during a six-week period at that hospital were tested with the Maternal Attitude to Pregnancy Instrumemt. Prepared cesarean women had a significantly greater desire for active participation in the delivery than women unprepared for cesarean delivery. Multiparous cesarean-delivery mothers with previous vaginal deliveries had a significantly more positive attitude than those who had never delivered vaginally.