The role of fear of childbirth in pregnancy related anxiety in Iranian women: a qualitative research

Journal Title: Electronic Physician - Year 2017, Vol 9, Issue 2

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety disorders have severe complications for a mother and her developing baby. A few studies have focused on pregnancy related anxiety and its risk factors including fear of childbirth. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore components and dimensions of this kind of anxiety. METHODS: This qualitative study (conventional content analysis) was conducted with mothers who referred to health care centers from May to December, 2015. In order to collect data, purposive sampling and face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews were used. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA software. RESULTS: Twenty eight pregnant women from different social backgrounds, educational levels and ethnicities aged 18-41 years old participated in this study and after analysis, fear of childbirth was classified into four categories including the process of delivery (fear of pain, prolonged labor, loss of control, being left alone during delivery, fear of her own incompetency), time of delivery (fear of preterm labor, fear of unknown delivery time, fear of late arrival to hospital), delivery complications (fear of bleeding, fear of death, postpartum depression, delivery accidents, genitalia injuries and fetal health problems) and healthcare quality (hospital facilities, lack of trust in maternity staff and lack of trust in obstetricians). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that supporting, reassuring and educating pregnant mothers and giving information about delivery room, labor and strategies for coping with fear of pain and childbirth are critical. Changes in maternity care policies are recommended to promote positive attitudes toward normal delivery

Authors and Affiliations

Katayoun Arfaie, Fatemeh Nahidi, Masoumeh Simbar, Maryam Bakhtiari

Keywords

Related Articles

Nurses views on accepting the creation of a nurses’ health monitoring system

BACKGROUND: Nurses' health is often accompanied by various dangers due to the nature of their career. Therefore, it is required to monitor their health. Based on designing any system, users' views should be investigated...

Experiences of women regarding gaps in preconception care services in the Iranian reproductive health care system: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION: Despite the beginnings of preconception care (PCC) delivery around a decade ago in Iran, there are still significant gaps in its service delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions an...

Effectiveness of Coenzyme Q10 on echocardiographic parameters of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

BACKGROUND: Myocardial damage is a common complication in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) that occurs due to myocardial replacement by fat and fibrosis. In recent years, efforts have been made toward find...

Comparison Quality of Health Services between Public and Private Providers: The Iranian People’s Perspective

INTRODUCTION: Health services quality has been the most important criteria of judging, and its improvement causes people's satisfaction of health systems. In a health system, public and private sectors provide services a...

Prevalence of diabetes and its relation with age and sex in Turaif city, northern Saudi Arabia in 2016–2017

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes in Saudi Arabia has increased dramatically during the last decades. This increase has been attributed to significant changes in cultural and socio-economic factors. OBJECTIVE: The...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP317528
  • DOI 10.19082/3733
  • Views 84
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Katayoun Arfaie, Fatemeh Nahidi, Masoumeh Simbar, Maryam Bakhtiari (2017). The role of fear of childbirth in pregnancy related anxiety in Iranian women: a qualitative research. Electronic Physician, 9(2), 3733-3740. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-317528