The Relationship between Fear of Childbirth and Women’s Knowledge about Painless Childbirth

Abstract

This study investigated the association between fear of childbirth (FOC) and women's knowledge about painless childbirth methods. The study was performed on 900 multiparous women within the last month of pregnancy. Data was obtained through a questionnaire including the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) Turkish form A. FOC was defined as W-DEQ sum score ≥85. Women were questioned about their knowledge about painless childbirth and the most important source of this knowledge. Group 1 consists of participants with knowledge about painless childbirth. Group 2 consists of participants without knowledge about painless childbirth. Five hundred and twenty-four women (58.2%) had knowledge while 376 women (41.7%) had no knowledge about painless childbirth. Mean W-DEQ scores in group 1 (68.46 ± 12.53) were found to be lower than group 2 (71.35 ± 12.28) (P = 0.001). FOC was associated with increased maternal request for elective caesarean section (OR 4.22, 95% CI 2.91–6.11). Better informed pregnant women about painless childbirth methods may reduce the number of women with FOC and the rate of preferred elective caesarean section.

Knowledge, Awareness and Acceptance of Labor Analgesia among Antenatal Women in a Remote Island: A Questionnaire Based Study

“…A study from South Africa showed that women gained knowledge of pain relief from previous experience or from friends and relatives [14]. Similar results indicating the major source of information being from their friends and relatives were found in earlier studies too [15,16]. In contrary, a study done in Northern Nigeria showed the majority of women have heard of pain relief mostly from their caregivers and during the current pregnancy [12].…”

The Validity and Reliability of Persian Version of Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (Version A) among Iranian Nulliparous Women

“…In another study, the results showed that a negative birth outcome in the previous pregnancy, fear of childbirth during pregnancy, cesarean section, and nulliparity were the factors that most related to fear of childbirth (Nilsson et al, 2012). A study of 376 women by Aksoy et al showed that an extreme fear of childbirth is a factor linked to an increased rate of cesarean section (OR 4.22, 95% CI: 2.91-6.11) (Aksoy et al, 2014). A qualitative study conducted by Faisal et al in Iran on 14 nulliparous women who requested elective cesarean section without any medical reason showed that the main reasons for requesting cesarean section were extreme fear of childbirth, complications after normal vaginal delivery, and sexual dysfunction (Faisal et al, 2014).…”

Investigation of the Relationship Between the Psychosocial Health Status and Fear of Childbirth in Healthy Pregnancies

“…Poliklinik kontrolü için hastaneye başvuran gebelere doğumun başlangıç belirtileri, doğum başladığında karışılabilecek durumlar, doğumhane ortamı, doğum masasında geçecek olan süre, doğum sırasında kullanılacak nefes egzersizleri, epizyotomi konusunda hemşireler tarafından verilen eğitimin kadınların yaşadığı doğum korkusu seviyesini azalttığı belirlenmiştir (39)(40)(41). Bununla birlikte, doğuma ilişkin gebelere verilen geleneksel eğitimin annelerde istenilen ruhsal iyileşmeyi sağlamada yeterli olmadığını savunan çalışmalar da bulunmaktadır (41).…”