Birth expectations, birth experiences and childbirth-related post-traumatic stress symptoms in mothers and birth companions: Dyadic investigation using response surface analysis.

Following previous literature, birth expectations were associated with experiences, and experiences were associated with CB-PTSS. By testing the effect of the match between birth experiences and expectations using an advanced statistical method, we found that experiences play a more substantial role than the match between experiences and expectations in CB-PTSS. The impact of birth experiences on CB-PTSS highlights the importance of respectful and supportive maternity care.