The association between childbirth-related fear, childbirth readiness, and fertility intentions, and childbirth readiness as the mediator

Abstract

Background Fertility intentions have been proved to be a reliable predictor of actual fertility behaviour. Also, childbirth-related fear (CBRF) has been proven to be negatively associated with childbirth readiness and fertility intentions among women, while childbirth readiness was positively related to fertility intentions. However, the associations and potential mechanisms between CBRF, childbirth readiness, and fertility intentions remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate the unique association between CBRF, childbirth readiness, and fertility intentions and whether childbirth readiness would mediate the relationship between CBRF and fertility intentions. Method A cross-sectional study of women (N = 1119, aged 16–53 years) who gave birth within 72 h was conducted. Using a convenience sampling, women were recruited from obstetric wards—10 comprehensive hospitals and 3 specialized hospitals in 7 provinces in mainland China. Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationship between CBRF, childbirth readiness, fertility intentions, and social support. Multivariate linear regression was further used to analyze the association between demographic and personal characteristics, CBRF, childbirth readiness, and fertility intentions. Mediation analysis was used to examine whether childbirth readiness mediates the relationship between CBRF and fertility intentions. Results Women with high childbirth readiness (β = 0.09, P = 0.002) had higher fertility intentions. However, women with high CBRF (β = − 0.17, P < 0.001) were more likely to have lower fertility intentions. CBRF had both direct and indirect effects on the level of fertility intentions. As predicted, childbirth readiness mediated the relationship between CBRF and the level of fertility intentions (estimate = − 0.012, 95% bootstrap CI: − 0.021 to − 0.005). Higher CBRF was associated with lower scores of childbirth readiness, which was associated with lower levels of fertility intentions. Conclusions This study established the evidence that CBRF had both direct and indirect effects on the level of fertility intentions and childbirth readiness mediated the relationship between CBRF and the level of fertility intentions. Specifically, higher CBRF was associated with lower scores of childbirth readiness, which was associated with lower levels of fertility intentions. This finding suggested that it is important for health policymakers and health providers to pay more attention to improving women’s childbirth readiness, which might reduce the negative influence of CBRF on fertility intentions, thus strengthening their fertility intentions.

Effect of implementation of the WHO intrapartum care model on maternal and neonatal outcomes: a randomized control trial

“…In this study, no statistically significant difference was observed in terms of the inclination for future childbearing between the groups. In a study by Zeng et al, a lower desire level for subsequent pregnancies had a significant connection with a greater fear of childbirth [ 59 ]. High levels of fear of childbirth are associated with negative childbirth experiences, and fear of future pregnancies, which probably result in lower desire levels for childbearing in women [ 60 ].…”

The Childbearing sense of coherence scale (CSOC-scale): development and validation

“…Shortage of high-quality and reliable health information and lower levels of health literacy and parenting skills were the main causes of loss of control and autonomy in one’s body or life and feelings of uselessness among both women and men during the parenthood transition [ 6 , 33 ]. These findings suggest that internal resources, such as health literacy and experience, and external resources, like support from family, friends, experienced parents, and healthcare professionals, are critical for couples to cope with the challenges of childbearing [ 8 , 10 , 34 , 35 ]. Unlike many previous studies that focused mainly on women, our study sample included both women and men, highlighting that the health of both genders should be considered in the perinatal period.…”

“…If they cannot adapt to these changes in the transition to parenthood, then their health will be affected to a great extent. Previous studies have revealed that for experienced or first-time parents, the transition to parenthood demands an adaptation and creates stress for both women and men [ 8 ]. Couples during the perinatal period are vulnerable to suffering from health problems such as impaired sleep quality, anxiety, and depression [ 2 , 9 – 11 ].…”

Research on influencing factors of college teachers’ second child fertility intentions——Taking Jinan as an example

“…Therefore, fertility intentions are of great practical significance for a country or region. Research related to fertility intentions is of even greater significance for low-fertility countries—the number of which continues to rise as fertility rates in many countries around the world decline [ 10 ].…”

“…As a direct driver of fertility behavior, fertility intentions are a key consideration for fertility policy [8,9]. Fertility intentions are people's subjective intentions or attitudes toward childbearing, and they have an important predictive effect on fertility behavior [10][11][12]; they determine, to a certain extent, the fertility level and population development of a country or region [11]. Scholars in different countries and regions are increasingly studying fertility intentions [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”