Effect of Psychotherapy on Reduction of Fear of Childbirth and Pregnancy Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abdollahi, Somayeh; Faramarzi, Mahbobeh; Delavar, Mouloud Agajani; Bakouei, Fatemeh; Chehrazi, Mohammad; Gholinia, Hemmat

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00787

Cited by 17 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…In order to prevent and treat tokophobia, cognitive therapy and psycho-education with relaxation have been found to be useful [22,23]. Not only women with a high Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire score, but every pregnant woman should have access and the opportunity to have psychological consultation, followed by extensive information on pregnancy and childbirth [24].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of childbirth and sense of coherence with their determinants in endangered and healthy pregnancies

Złakowska¹

2020

J Pre Clin Clin Res.

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Introduction. The growing number of Cesarean sections and the percentage of women dissatisfied with perinatal care are the one of the main problems of modern gynaecology in Poland. It seems that if women with a high fear of delivery and a low sense of coherence are scanned early enough, it can contribute to better psychological care and greater satisfaction while giving birth. Objective. The aim of the study is to compare the level of fear of childbirth and sense of coherence between endangered and healthy pregnancies. Materials and Method. The study was conducted in one centre in Lublin, Poland, which involved 29 women in endangered pregnancies. The comparative group consists of 30 women in healthy pregnancy, tested online. Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire were used for the study. Results. The results showed that women in endangered pregnancy significantly differ in terms of the level of fear of delivery, comprehensibility, manageability and general sense of coherence from women who are not in endangered pregnancy. The Cohen's d size indicates that women who are in high-risk pregnancy have a significantly higher level of fear of childbirth than women in healthy pregnancy. Cohen›s d index also indicates that women in endangered pregnancy have a significantly lower level of comprehensibility, manageability and general sense of coherence compared to the control group. Conclusions. Screening pregnant women with ready-made questionnaires and providing professional psychological care can possibly prevent excessive escalation of childbirth anxiety and decrease the number of Cesarean sections. By increasing the sense of coherence, we can help in better management of pregnancy and improve the overall experience.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of childbirth and sense of coherence with their determinants in endangered and healthy pregnancies

Złakowska¹

2020

J Pre Clin Clin Res.

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“…Also calming virtual reality environments seem to be effective on reducing anxiety during pregnancy, but this effect was mainly seen by qualitative data of the study (Sridhar et al, 2020). A motivational interviewing (MI) psychotherapy intervention showed a large and significant effect on the reduction of fear of childbirth (Abdollahi et al, 2020 Akbarian (2018) showed that after the intervention, the mean anxiety score of the pregnant women group was significantly lower than that of the control group and this score was significantly lower in the couples group than that in the pregnant women group. This result has to be interpreted carefully, due to a weak rating.…”

Section: Categories Of Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…There is no clearly delimitable and common definition of fear of childbirth (FOC) in the literature. It is also difficult to draw a line between subclinical, phobic and pathological levels of FOC (Abdollahi et al 2020). To give an overview over existing terms in the literature, this paper makes an attempt to define different phrases related to the term FOC.…”

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FOC can also be classified into primary FOC, which occurs in nulliparous women and secondary FOC relating to women who already had traumatic birth experiences (Abdollahi et al, 2020;K Hofberg & Ward, 2003). A third form is FOC as a symptom of prenatal depression (K Hofberg & Ward, 2003;Kristina Hofberg & Brockington, 2000;Klabbers, 2016).…”

Section: Foc (Fear Of Childbirth)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14 studies focused on "fear of childbirth" as an outcome (Abdollahi et al, 2020;Airo (Toivanen) et al, 2018;Amiri et al, 2019;Andaroon et al, 2017;Boryri et al, 2018;Boz et al, 2020;Firouzan et al, 2020;Haapio et al, 2017;Hildingsson et al, 2019;Irmak Vural & Aslan, 2019;Kacperczyk-Bartnik et al, 2019;Karabulut et al, 2016;Klabbers et al, 2019;Kordi et al, 2017;Larsson et al, in press;Mary et al, 2017;Munkhondya et al, 2020;Narita et al, 2018;Nieminen et al, 2016;Rahmani et al, 2019;Rondung et al, 2018;Rouhe et al, 2015b;Shahsavan et al, 2020;Swift et al, in press;Uçar & Golbasi, 2019).…”

Section: Outcome Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic Review on the Efficacy of Interventions for Fear of Childbirth, Anxiety and Fear in Pregnant Women

Birner¹,

Große²

2021

Preprint

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Background: Fears and anxieties during pregnancy and childbirth are a frequent phenomenon and can have negative consequences on wellbeing, psychological health and birth outcomes. Therefore, it is important to focus on the interventions to reduce those fears and anxieties during pregnancy and childbirth. A systematic review was conducted to examine the current literature on psychological interventions to reduce anxieties and fears during pregnancy and childbirth. Scopus and PubMed were searched from 2015 up until December 2020 for relevant studies. Included were pregnant women, with no restriction on age ranges or parity. Entered in the review were quantitative studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized controlled trials as well as treatment evaluations. After reviewing titles, abstracts and studies, 72 studies were included in this review as they met the inclusion criteria. Standard methodological procedures for systematic reviews were used. The quality assessment of included articles was done by using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (EPHPP). Results: The main results of this review concern the fear and anxiety reducing effects of psychoeducation, relaxation techniques, guided imagery, supportive care through a midwife, group discussion, “lifestyle based education”, writing therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy groups and stress intervention, individual structured psychotherapy, communication skills training, counseling approaches (except distraction techniques), a motivational interviewing psychotherapy, emotional freedom techniques, breathing awareness and different hypnotherapeutic techniques on different fears and anxieties during pregnancy and childbirth. For mindfulness-based interventions mixed results are found. The effect of an acceptance and commitment therapy, biofeedback interventions, a mind body intervention, mental health training courses, the group intervention Nyytti® as well as cognitive analytic therapy is unclear, due to weak ratings. Antenatal class attendance reduced delivery fear significantly only in first time mothers. An internet-based problem-solving treatment did not reduce anxiety during pregnancy. Conclusion: A broad range of interventions show positive effects on fear of childbirth and fear and anxiety in pregnancy. Further research should address other acknowledged psychotherapeutic practices, like psycho-dynamic as well as systemic interventions, as they are underrepresented within this review. Furthermore , there is a need for manualized therapeutic interventions, with regards to a combination of effective intervention components.

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Interventions for fear of childbirth including tocophobia

O’Connell

Khashan

Leahy‐Warren

et al. 2021

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

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Effect of Psychotherapy on Reduction of Fear of Childbirth and Pregnancy Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Cited by 17 publications

References 60 publications

Fear of childbirth and sense of coherence with their determinants in endangered and healthy pregnancies

Fear of childbirth and sense of coherence with their determinants in endangered and healthy pregnancies

Systematic Review on the Efficacy of Interventions for Fear of Childbirth, Anxiety and Fear in Pregnant Women

Interventions for fear of childbirth including tocophobia

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