Labor Stress and Nursing Support: How Do They Relate?(Essay‪)‬

Abstract Selected aspects of the phenomenon of labor stress including the relationship between labor stress and nursing support were explored using a correlational design with 85 postpartum women who delivered vaginally and were recruited from a midwestern general hospital in the United States. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire measured labor stress while the Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire measured nursing support during labor. Significant positive correlations were found between number of labor hours and labor stress (r = .25, p = .020) and number of labor hours and number of labor procedures (r = .23, p = .031). A significant negative correlation (r = - .36, p .01) between labor stress and nursing support was found. Data from this study confirmed previous findings regarding nursing support and emphasized the important role that nursing support plays in alleviating labor stress.