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.

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).

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

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.

Individual participant data will not be shared.