Determination of risk factors affecting fear of childbirth during pregnancy

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the level of fear of childbirth in pregnant women in terms of factors such as age, number of births, education level, and immigration status. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out by including 444 pregnant women who have 32-36 weeks of pregnancy and voluntarily agree to participate in the research, all of them are literate and applied to Kütahya Health Sciences University Evliya Çelebi Training and Research Hospital between 25.07.2019 -01.11.2019. The data were collected using the Wijma Birth Expectation / Experience Scale (W-DEQ), and the questionnaire was administered to the immigrant patients by an outpatient doctor via an interpreter. Results: The average age of the pregnant women was 31.65 ±6.83 years. 24.8% (n = 110) of all the participants had low levels of fear of childbirth, 21.8% (n = 97) had moderate fear, 27.9% (n = 124) had severe fear, and 25% (n = 113) were identified as having very severe fear of childbirth. The W-DEQ score increased as the education level increased, but there was no difference between university graduates and postgraduate pregnant women. Fear of childbirth in migrant women was found to be significantly lower compared to Turkish women. Conclusion: Fear of childbirth is affected by age, education, immigration, and these conditions vary among societies. Pre-determining conditions that can increase fear of childbirth and implementing social support programs in selected patient groups may decrease the fear of childbirth and lower the number of cesarean sections in Turkey.

The changes in fear of childbirth in pregnancy during and before the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In our current study conducted with the same scale, fear of childbirth increased with education level, but according to the study conducted before the pandemic period, it was seen that the fear of childbirth scores did not increase statistically at all education levels during the pandemic period. In studies conducted before the pandemic in Turkey, the mean fear of childbirth score was lower than during the pandemic period 17 , 26 , 27 .…”

“…For this reason, health professionals should question the psychological status of patients related to anxieties during pregnancy follow-up and ensure that they receive psychiatric help when necessary. The study we conducted before the pandemic showed that as the education level increases, the fear of childbirth scores, as measured by the WDEQ-A score, also increase 17 . In our current study conducted with the same scale, fear of childbirth increased with education level, but according to the study conducted before the pandemic period, it was seen that the fear of childbirth scores did not increase statistically at all education levels during the pandemic period.…”

“…This cross-sectional cohort study compared pregnant women who were enrolled during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (participants) with pregnant women who were enrolled prior to the pandemic (reference group). The fear of childbirth group in the pre-pandemic group was formed with the data in our study, which were collected in 2019 17 . Ethical approval was received from the Ethics Committee of Kutahya Health Sciences University on 21.10.2020 with decision number 2020/15-04.…”