Fear of childbirth and sense of coherence with their determinants in endangered and healthy pregnancies

Abstract

Introduction. The growing number of Cesarean sections and the percentage of women dissatisfied with perinatal care are the one of the main problems of modern gynaecology in Poland. It seems that if women with a high fear of delivery and a low sense of coherence are scanned early enough, it can contribute to better psychological care and greater satisfaction while giving birth. Objective. The aim of the study is to compare the level of fear of childbirth and sense of coherence between endangered and healthy pregnancies. Materials and Method. The study was conducted in one centre in Lublin, Poland, which involved 29 women in endangered pregnancies. The comparative group consists of 30 women in healthy pregnancy, tested online. Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire were used for the study. Results. The results showed that women in endangered pregnancy significantly differ in terms of the level of fear of delivery, comprehensibility, manageability and general sense of coherence from women who are not in endangered pregnancy. The Cohen's d size indicates that women who are in high-risk pregnancy have a significantly higher level of fear of childbirth than women in healthy pregnancy. Cohen›s d index also indicates that women in endangered pregnancy have a significantly lower level of comprehensibility, manageability and general sense of coherence compared to the control group. Conclusions. Screening pregnant women with ready-made questionnaires and providing professional psychological care can possibly prevent excessive escalation of childbirth anxiety and decrease the number of Cesarean sections. By increasing the sense of coherence, we can help in better management of pregnancy and improve the overall experience.

The relationship of the sense of coherence and distress tolerance with childbirth self-efficacy with the mediating role of body intelligence

“…The results of bootstrapping in the present study showed that the direct effect of SOC in explaining CSE was significant. This finding is in agreement with the findings of a study which reported that SOC improvement can reduce women's fear over pregnancy and labor pain (17). Another study also showed the significant positive correlation of SOC with interest in vaginal delivery (19).…”

“…SOC consists of different trainable skills such as realization, consciousness improvement, social health and subjective well-being promotion, creation of integrity and coherence, and openness to new experiences (16). SOC can reduce women's fear and anxiety over pregnancy and labor pain and improve their motivation for having vaginal delivery (17). Women with higher SOC are more willing to have vaginal delivery (18,19).…”

Effects of COVID-19 anxiety and obsession on fear of childbirth in high-risk pregnancy during the pandemic in Turkey

“…There are studies showing that the fear of childbirth is higher in complicated pregnancies. 33,34 Moreover, a stronger fear of childbirth is also characteristic of women who view their previous childbirths as traumatic. 35 In our study, we found that the participants with negative previous childbirth experiences had higher levels of fear of childbirth and childbirth anxiety.…”