Women's worries about childbirth: making safe choices

Abstract

The aim of this research was to provide a qualitative account of a number of women's everyday worries about childbirth. This was facilitated by asking women about their worries and identifying their social and personal contexts. The central findings of this Australian study were that women worry about their own health and their baby's; normality and the effects of their pregnant and potential birthing behaviours. In addition the study showed that pain is linked with vulnerability and that women feel they are not valued for their individual selves. This study has implications for professionals offering health services for pregnant women. It challenges health providers to reconsider assumptions about what it is women worry about and what measures should be taken. Understanding the complex ways that women worry about childbirth within social and personal contexts can improve knowledge and practice, and the experience of pregnancy and childbirth for women.

Cross-cultural development and psychometric evaluation of a measure to assess fear of childbirth prior to pregnancy

“…'Please indicate why you would prefer an epidural (for your partner)? ' 8 A review of the literature revealed more than 10 different self-report measures of childbirth fear (4,5,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28), ranging from 1-item measures (26,27,29) to a 64-item scale (5). The 33-item Wijma Delivery and Expectancy Questionnaire (WDEQ) (20) is the most commonly employed measure and has been used in several countries (1-3, 30-32).…”

“…Severe fear of childbirth affects 2.5% of nulliparas and 4.5% of multiparas (6) and is characterized by nightmares, physical complaints, and difficulties concentrating on work or family activities. Common childbirth fears include worries about the health and safety of the baby, and fear of intolerable pain, prolonged labour, an inability to cope with labour and unsupportive hospital staff (5)(6)(7)(8).…”

Why are young Canadians afraid of birth? A survey study of childbirth fear and birth preferences among Canadian University students

“…Women most commonly fear labour pain and harm to the baby (Geissbuehler andEberhard, 2002, Melender, 2002;Saisto and Halmesmaki, 2003;Maier, 2010;McAra Couper et al, 2010); they view their fears as mitigated by obstetric interventions, such as epidural anaesthesia for relief of labour pain and planned CS to avoid labour pain (Stoll & Hall, in press-a). Most studies of childbirth fear have focused on pregnant women and their partners, with little attention paid to fear of birth and preferences for obstetric interventions among the next generation of maternity care consumers (Saroli-Palumbo et al, 2012;Stoll and Hall, in press-a, in press-b).…”

Pregnancy, risk perception and use of complementary and alternative medicine

“…Underpinning the biomedical approach is the view that pregnancy and childbirth are inherently risky, and therefore in need of medical supervision and technological interventions (Symon 2006). The laudable aim of risk management in maternity services is to improve the quality of care and patient safety (Heyman et al 2010), yet this approach has contributed to the ever increasing rates of medical intervention in pregnancy and birth (Maier 2010, Fenwick et al (2010. These practices are congruent with Beck's (1992) and Giddens' (1990) well-established thesis that risk and the management of risk has become increasingly important and pervasive in contemporary late-modernity.…”