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dc.contributor.authorToohill, Jocelyn
dc.contributor.authorFenwick, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorGamble, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorCreedy, Debra
dc.contributor.authorBuist, Anne
dc.contributor.authorRyding, Elsa Lena
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T12:53:20Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T12:53:20Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.date.modified2014-08-19T04:43:14Z
dc.identifier.issn21608792
dc.identifier.doi10.4236/ojog.2014.49075
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/62539
dc.description.abstractBackground: Around 20% of birthing women report high levels of childbirth fear. Fear potentially impacts women's emotional health, preparation for birth, and birth outcomes. Evidence suggests that personal and external factors contribute to childbirth fear, however results vary. Aim: To identify pyscho-social factors associated with childbirth fear and possible antenatal predictors of childbirth fear according to women's parity. Method: 1410 women in second trimester and attending one of three public hospitals in south-east Queensland were screened for childbirth fear using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ). Other measures included the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EPDS), Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) and items from the EuroQol (EQ-5D) targeting Anxiety/Depression and Pain/Discomfort. In addition items measuring a previous mental health condition, social support and knowledge were used. Preferred mode of birth was also collected. Psycho-social factors were analysed to determine associations with childbirth fear. Multivariate analysis was used to determine predictors of fear. Results: Thirty-one percent (n = 190/604) of nulliparous and 18% (n = 143/782) of multiparous women reported high fear levels. Having a mental health history, desiring a caesarean section, reporting moderate to high pain during pregnancy, having a non-supportive partner and perceiving less childbirth knowledge than peers, were associated with childbirth fear. Standard multiple regression analyses by parity determined that depression, decisional conflict, low social support and less perceived knowledge predicted levels of childbirth fear. The model explained 32.4% of variance in childbirth fear for nulliparous and 29.4% for multiparous women. Conclusion: Psychosocial factors are significantly associated with childbirth fear. The identification of predictive psychosocial factors for childbirth fear indicates the importance of observing, assessing, and developing support strategies for women. Such strategies are required to decrease anxiety and depression for women during pregnancy, promote normal birth, and build social support to improve women's feelings and positive expectations of birth.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent347838 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherScientific Research Publishing
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom531
dc.relation.ispartofpageto543
dc.relation.ispartofissue9
dc.relation.ispartofjournalOpen Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
dc.relation.ispartofvolume4
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchMidwifery
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode111006
dc.titlePsycho-social predictors of childbirth fear in pregnant women: An Australian study
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
gro.rights.copyright© 2014 The authors and SciRes. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorGamble, Jenny A.
gro.griffith.authorCreedy, Debra K.
gro.griffith.authorToohill, Jocelyn
gro.griffith.authorFenwick, Jennifer


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