Women's Decision-Making And Factors Affecting Their Choice Of ...

expectations of what would best represent safety. The results are similar to those
of Mather's (1980) study where women cited safety as the most important reason
for choosing a maternity setting, whether it was a birthing room, home birth or
traditional hospital. On the other hand, in their study, Chamberlain et al (1997)
found that women planning a hospital birth were motivated by safety, while those
who chose a home birth did not mention safety as a reason for their choice.
Other studies have conceptualised safety differently, and interpreted the
belief by women that their choice is the safest, regardless of what risks others may
perceive, as bolstering their choice. Bolstering is used to indicate the tendency to
see only the best with the desired choice and the worst with the alternative (Janis
and Mann 1977; McClain 1983; Pierce 1993; White, Wearing, and Hill 1994).
For example, in the study, those women planning a home birth emphasise the fact
that at home they will have two midwives who will give continuous care, and that
they will be more relaxed and in control, with the result that things will be less
likely to go wrong. However, they overlook the fact that if their labour was
complicated and they needed to go for an emergency caesarean section, it might
not be possible to transfer them to hospital on time, for example, because of rush-
hour traffic.
Similarly, the hospital group focus on the fact that if there were any
complications they would be attended quickly. Nevertheless, they disregard the
point raised by the home birth group that due to staff shortages, it might not be
possible for problems to be identified on time. Additionally, they also disregard
the fact that the problems that occur might be because of the easy access of
equipment they so want. For example, they might be forced to go for a caesarean
section because they had an epidural and therefore are unable to push when
required. Because of its potential complications and unknown outcomes,
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