Introduction: Childbirth experience is considered an essential issue for health policy makers in developed countries, but Kurdish women's childbirth experience has received little attention. Purpose: To assess Kurdish women's labour and birth experience, identifying their awareness of, and desire for, labour pain relief. The study also explores healthcare professionals' views on intrapartum care. Design and Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was adopted. A quantitative survey was conducted with 256 women who gave birth in a major hospital in Iraqi Kurdistan. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine of these women and 14 healthcare professionals. Findings: Both statistical and qualitative analyses were applied. The majority of women were dissatisfied with their labour and birth experience. Women graded their childbirth as painful; most were unaware of labour pain relief options but wanted pain relief for any future birth. Antenatal visits had no effect on women's preparedness. Interview data indicated factors contributing to women's negative childbirth experience including: fear of childbirth pain, lack of choice, staff members being attentive only during labour, little staff/patient communication, no privacy, frequent examinations and interventions such as episiotomy. Positive experiences included perceived staff competence, presence of birth companions and positive birth outcomes. Healthcare professionals revealed that shortcomings in care were due to resource constraints, high admission rates, staff shortage and excessive workload. Conclusion and Recommendation: Several factors negatively affecting the childbirth experience need to be addressed, whilst positive factors should be reinforced. Antenatal preparation of women for childbirth and a labour pain management policy are necessary. Exploring the Midwifery-Led Care Model could provide solutions to the current issues with Kurdish maternity care services.