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BACKGROUND: The relationship between birth mode, with the medical care it implies, and women's subjective experiences of childbirth is known to be complex and multifactorial. Considering these complexities, this study aimed to explore the relationship between birth mode and women's childbirth experiences. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey on the most recent childbirth was distributed in three French maternity wards between September and October 2019 as part of a mixed-method research design. All women over 18 years of age who had given birth in the wards in the previous 3 days were eligible to participate. To study these qualitative variables in a finite population, 258 women were recruited by use of a simple random sampling technique. They answered survey questions concerning both sociodemographic data and information about the childbirth experience. The correlation between the survey variables was studied using a Pearson chi-square test. RESULTS: Combined data indicated a positive correlation between childbirth experiences and birth mode. Furthermore, data showed that emergency cesarean births had the most negative impact on respondents' childbirth experiences. Compared to respondents who had an emergency cesarean, those who had a non-instrumental vaginal birth used the words "happiness" (p =.0095), "wonder" (p =.0005), and "power" (p =.0384) significantly more. Additionally, compared to respondents who had a vaginal birth, those who had an emergency cesarean described their childbirth significantly more with the words "fear" (p <.0001) and "powerlessness" (p <.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Although several studies have already highlighted the relationship between birth mode and women's negative childbirth experiences, our results show that this relationship can also be read through the lesser use of positive words to describe this subjective experience, thus refining our knowledge and understanding of this event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]