Introduction. based on the findings of academic literature, evidence has found that physical and social environment play an inherent role in the birthing procedure. birth is a natural process, with a specific sequence of hormonal changes and communication between mother and baby. environmental stress, through a surge of adrenaline, can hinder the unfolding of the special physiological responses, and as a consequence of the contractions becoming less strong and frequent, the birthing process can stop. for this reason, privacy and intimacy are of special importance around the labouring mother. Aim. the aim of our study was to explore what role privacy and intimacy play during labour and delivery. furthermore, we aimed to discover whether perceived stress is related to privacy and intimacy experienced by mothers. Material and methods. the newly created childbirth Intimacy and privacy scale (cIps) is introduced to measure physical and social privacy, safety and some other features which proved to be important during the birthing process keeping it on the physiological level. additionally, we assessed stress experienced during birth with the shortened version of the perceived stress scale (pss). Results. pss and cIps measures showed satisfactory internal consistency, data came from a normal distribution and items were strongly intercorrelated. significant differences were found in pss regarding education, marital status and socio-economic status (ses). mothers with single marital status and low ses reported significantly higher perceived stress. out of all cIps items, mothers indicated high levels of privacy in features regarding no photos being taken, continuity of care throughout labour and delivery, patience and security provided by birth attendants and a lack of embarrassment in their presence. no significant differences were found when testing the mean value of the total score by using anova; however, intimacy and privacy seemed to be slightly higher among mothers over 30 years old, having at least a third child, married, with lower qualifications and higher ses. Conclusions. cIps has proven to be an adequate measuring tool for assessing intimacy and privacy experienced by mothers during the birthing procedure. when privacy was rated high on the scale mothers perceived less stress and when rated low they experienced higher levels of stress. therefore, if mother-focused care is the goal, caregivers should create and foster an atmosphere where intimacy and privacy are present, making a more satisfying birth possible with less interventions needed.

Introduction. midwifery is a physically and emotionally exhausting profession. the type of calming, reassuring behaviour required from midwives when providing support for birthing women often takes its toll on their wellbeing. the large workloads they are requested to manage along with traumatic birth events might lead to compassion fatigue and burnout. Accompanying stress may result in feelings of being overloaded, as well as low levels of satisfaction and appreciation. Aim. our study aim was to discover the incidence and degree to which midwives are affected by high workloads in their work, as well as how satisfied and respected, appreciated they feel in their profession. our additional goal was to see whether there is connection between burnout and the characteristics mentioned above. Material and method. our questionnaire collected information on socio-demographic data and health-related issues accompanied by work overload, satisfaction and appreciation. the final part was the maslach burnout inventory (mbi). from the 283 completed and returned questionnaires 275 were finally included in the study. data were analysed using the spss. Results. our results show that almost two thirds (65.9%) of the sample were satisfied either 'mostly' or 'fully', only every fourth midwife in our study (25.3%) felt appreciated in her everyday work. more than two thirds (69.1%) of midwives complain of being overloaded at work. regarding the various factors of burnout: the factor of emotional exhaustion seemed to have the strongest relationship with all three perceived work characteristics; depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment also proved to be strongly associated with satisfaction. we have discovered a strong relationship between satisfaction and appreciation (r = .333). Conclusions. we conclude that seeing how essential midwives' committed support is for birthing women and their families, midwives' needs should be taken into consideration and the emotional aspects of midwives' work should be kept in focus.

Bevezetés: A szülés érzelmi, kognitív, viselkedéses vonatkozásai, a megtapasztalt stressz szoros kapcsolatban állnak bizonyos fiziológiai háttérfolyamatokkal. Célkitűzés: Vizsgálni kívántuk a szülés közbeni fizikai környezet biztonságának, a szüléskísérők támogatásának, a mesterséges oxitocinadagolásnak mint beavatkozásnak összefüggéseit az észlelt stressz viszonylatában. Módszer: Kutatásunkban a nők stressz-szintjére a rövidített Észlelt Stressz Skálával, a fizikai és szociális környezet biztonságára, a mesterséges oxitocinadagolásra külön kérdésekkel kérdeztünk rá. Eredmények: A stressz, a fizikai és szociális biztonság között szoros negatív összefüggés mutatkozott. Az átlag alatti fizikai és szociális biztonságot megtapasztalók csoportja szignifikánsan magasabb stresszt élt át; és az, aki kapott oxitocint, nagyobb stresszt és kisebb fizikai és szociális biztonságérzetet észlelt. Következtetések: Mivel szülés során a fiziológiai és pszichés folyamatok, viselkedések szorosan hatnak egymásra, javasoljuk a beavatkozásmentes, természetes élettani szülés támogatását, ami az anya és gyermeke hosszú távú érdekeit is szolgálja. Egy modellben szemléltetjük a nyugodt fizikai környezet, a minimális beavatkozás és a szüléskísérői támo-gatás hozzájárulását az anya biztonságos és kielégítő szülésélményéhez. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(29): 1149-1156.Kulcsszavak: szülési stressz, fiziológiai szülés, szülészeti beavatkozás, oxitocin, emocionális támogatás The role of environmental factors in managing labour stressIntroduction: Emotional, cognitive and behavioural aspects of birth and labour stress are strongly associated with the underlying physiological processes. Aim: To study the factors of physical security and social support, the administration of synthetic oxytocin, and how they relate to perceived stress during childbirth. Method: Women's experienced physical security, social support and oxytocin administration was measured with targeted questions, and their perceived stress with the short and modified version of the Perceived Stress Scale. Results: A strong negative association was found between perceived stress and physical and social security. The group of women experiencing low physical and social security perceived significantly higher stress, while those given synthetic oxytocin perceived higher stress, and lower physical and social security. Conclusions: Since physiological, psychological processes and behaviours are strongly intertwined, the support of natural physiological birth without interventions is recommended, which considers not only short-term but longterm health consequences for mother and child. The contribution of calming physical surroundings, minimal interventions and empowering support of caregivers to safe and satisfying birth is demonstrated in a model.