: In Thailand , most public hospitals do not allow family members of pregnant women to be present during intrapartum . Thus , women , during labor and delivery , have to face childbirth in an unfamiliar environment surrounded only by strangers . The purpose of this study , in Songkla Province , was to compare between women , who had a relative present during the first stage of intrapartum and those who did not , anxiety levels , labor pain , satisfaction with the childbirth experience , duration of the first stage of labor , type of delivery , use of Pethidine and the babies ’ Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes . A quasi - experimental design was implemented using 114 pregnant women ( experimental group n = 56 ; control group n = 58 ) . Four questionnaires and a visual analog scale were used for data collection . Content validity of each questionnaire was judged by five experts in intrapartum care . To assure reliability of the questionnaires and feasibility of the research procedure , a pilot study was conducted using the questionnaires with 20 postpartum women . Data analyses were accomplished using both descriptive and inferential statistics . The findings revealed a significant difference in anxiety scores between the experimental and control groups . No other significant differences were found . The results suggest having a relative present , during intrapartum , reduces a women’s anxiety . However , the findings did not support the positive effect of having a relative present during intrapartum , regarding other childbirth outcomes .