MOTHER FRİENDLY PRACTİCES AND MATERNAL, FETAL OUTCOMES

April 7, 2026 updated by: Sakarya University

THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER FRİENDLY PRACTİCES ON MATERNAL AND FETAL OUTCOMES: A MULTİCENTER STUDY

The "mother-friendly hospital" model aims to enhance care quality by avoiding unnecessary, non-evidence-based interventions and supporting natural physiological processes from early pregnancy to postpartum. This study evaluated the impact of mother-friendly hospital criteria on labor pain, maternal satisfaction, and maternal and fetal outcomes.

Mother-friendly hospital practices emphasizing minimal intervention and physiologic support reduce labor pain, improve maternal satisfaction, and enhance neonatal outcomes. Implementing mother-friendly approaches ensures safe, high-quality, mother-centered maternity care.

The results of our study showed that mother-friendly approaches increased maternal satisfaction during the childbirth process and reduced pain scores. These results revealed that mother-friendly practices not only improve the childbirth experience of women but also contribute positively to maternal and neonatal health. Therefore, supporting and expanding the integration of mother-friendly approaches into the healthcare system is of great importance for improving the quality of obstetric services.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

This prospective study included term pregnant women delivering between February and June 2025 at Sakarya Research and Training Hospital (Group 1, with mother-friendly practices) and Ümraniye Research and Training Hospital (Group 2, without such practices). Exclusion criteria were maternal age >45 years, chronic systemic disease, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, prolonged rupture of membranes with infection, preterm birth (<37 weeks), and small-for-gestational-age infants (<2 SD). Maternal characteristics, labor interventions, non-pharmacological methods, postpartum hemorrhage, labor duration, pain levels using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and fetal outcomes (birth weight, Apgar scores, NICU admission) were recorded. Maternal satisfaction was assessed in the first postpartum hour using the Birth Satisfaction Scale.

A total of 281 women were included (Group 1: 136, Group 2: 145). Groups were similar in age, BMI, education, employment, gestational week, labor duration, and postpartum hemorrhage (p>0.05). Latent phase, active phase, and postpartum VAS scores were significantly lower in Group 1 (p<0.001). Maternal satisfaction scores were higher in Group 1 (p<0.001). NICU admissions were lower in Group 1 (2.9% vs. 9.7%, p=0.022), and first- and fifth-minute Apgar scores were higher (p<0.001).

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

281

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Adapazarı
      • Sakarya, Adapazarı, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • The Obstetrics Clinics of Sakarya Research and Training Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Pregnant women receiving care at participating centers, aged 18-45 years, with singleton pregnancies at ≥37 weeks of gestation. Participants must be planning to deliver at the study hospital and provide informed consent. Women with multiple gestations, major maternal comorbidities (e.g., pre-existing diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease), or known fetal anomalies are excluded. The study population represents a prospective cohort of patients exposed to routine mother-friendly practices in a multicenter clinical setting.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients aged 18-45
  2. No chronic diseases
  3. No acute illnesses
  4. No pregnancy complications
  5. Spontaneous pregnancy
  6. Full-term pregnancy
  7. Appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Individuals over 45 years of age
  2. Maternal type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes
  3. Chronic hypertension
  4. Preeclampsia
  5. Connective tissue disease
  6. Smoking during pregnancy
  7. Preterm birth (gestational age <37 weeks)
  8. small-for-gestational-age infants (birth weight < 2 SD)
  9. neonatal asphyxia (APGAR score <7 at 1 and 5 minutes)
  10. malformations, chromosomal disorders, and congenital infections
  11. women with signs of chorioamnionitis (fever, leukocytosis, abdominal pain, foul-smelling discharge) more than 12 hours after EMR
  12. chronic kidney and liver disease
  13. hematological disorders
  14. Should not be administered to individuals with a pacemaker
  15. Should not be administered to patients with epilepsy, transient ischemic attacks, or a history of cerebrovascular events

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Group 1
where mother-friendly approaches were implemented
Group 2
where mother-friendly approaches were not implemented

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Composite adverse maternal and neonatal outcome
Time Frame: From delivery to hospital discharge, 1. day
A composite outcome including at least one of the following: cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, severe perineal trauma, low 5-minute Apgar score (<7), or NICU admission.
From delivery to hospital discharge, 1. day

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sakarya University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 28, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 5, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 7, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 7, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • E-43012747-050.04-438233-43

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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