ABSTRACT
On the whole, then, our general impression of the mothers' attitudes to childbirth, as described by them in retrospect, is that, for an important minority, birth is remembered as an occasion of great joy and physical satisfaction; for a somewhat larger number, it is a time of absorbing interest and excitement; and a still larger number at least derived a sense of achievement and fulfilment from an experience which they thought well worth the physical discomfort involved. It should perhaps be mentioned here that the vast majority of mothers (93 per cent) were fully conscious at the time of birth, and obviously preferred it that way. More than one mother also expressed some regret that she was unable to see her own baby being born.
