Introduction

Decision-making choices and the experience of control are essential components of care during labour.  Choice is a fundamental element of quality childbirth care, and birthing women desire to have choices when receiving labour care. Components of control comprise of access to information, personal safety, decision-making, and physical functioning. This study aims to unravel women’s experiences of decision-making choice and control of the labour care.

Method

The study is qualitative study and descriptive phenomenology was employed to undertake the study. The sample comprised of 21 women who were purposively selected. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data and thematic analysis was done.

Result

Three themes were generated from the data: being involved, diverse experience of control and paying attention.

Conclusion

Most women participated in decision-making and experienced the feeling of being in control of their labour care. However, a few women were not involved in decision making during birth and another few women felt they experienced a loss of control over the labour care. Opportunity should be provided for women to be actively involved in their care.