Fear of Childbirth and Risk of Cesarean Delivery: A Cohort Study in Six European Countries

Ryding, Elsa Lena; Lukasse, Mirjam; Parys, An-Sophie Van; Wangel, Anne-Marie; Karro, Helle; Kristjansdottir, Hildur; Schroll, Anne-Mette; Schei, Berit

doi:10.1111/birt.12147

Cited by 180 publications

(161 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(48 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

139

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results showed that this applied to only a fraction (3.1%) of all pregnant women (2.2% of nulliparous and 4.0% of parous). This is supported by the strong correlation between a severe FOC and a request for CS as seen in our results (p<0.0001), and is in line with the results in previous studies conducted both in Sweden (Wiklund, Edman, & Andolf 2007;Salomonsson et al 2013) and in a multi-centre study conducted in five European countries (Ryding et al 2015).…”

Section: Generalsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In mixed samples of nulliparous and parous women, severe FOC is found to be associated with prolonged labour (Sydsjö et al 2014, Johnson & Slade 2003, more use of instrumental deliveries (Ryding 1993;Sjögren & Thomassen 1997), and more pain relief (Sjögren & Thomassen 1997;Alehagen, Wijma & Wijma 2006) and CS (Ryding et al 1998;Gottvall & Waldenström 2002;Sydsjö et al 2013;Räisänen et al 2014;Ryding et al 2015). In similar samples the aforementioned vicious circle has been reported: the phenomenon of finding women who report high FOC before, during and after delivery (Zar, Wijma & Wijma 2001;Alehagen, Wijma & Wijma 2006;Sluijs et al 2012), which thus augments the woman's risk for experiencing the delivery as traumatic.…”

Section: Consequences Of Severe Focmentioning

confidence: 86%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Clinical aspects of childbirth-related anxiety

Nieminen

2016

Linköping University Medical Dissertations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Generalsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Consequences Of Severe Focmentioning

confidence: 86%

Clinical aspects of childbirth-related anxiety

Nieminen

2016

Linköping University Medical Dissertations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent studies of young women and men planning to have children indicate that attitudes towards pregnancy and birth are well developed in this population (11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and the same positive association between prenatal preferences for elective interventions and fear of childbirth is seen among men and women who plan to have children and pregnant women (14,15,19). These findings suggest that addressing fear of birth during pregnancy might be too late, and earlier intervention is necessary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

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

Stoll

Hauck

Downe

et al. 2016

Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Assessment of childbirth fear, in advance of pregnancy, and early identification of modifiable factors contributing to fear can inform public health initiatives and/or school-based educational programming for the next generation of maternity care consumers. We developed and evaluated a short fear of birth scale that incorporates the most common dimensions of fear reported by men and women prior to pregnancy, fear of: labour pain, being out of control and unable to cope with labour and birth, complications, and irreversible physical damage.Methods: University students in six countries (Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Iceland, and the United States, n=2240) participated in an online survey to assess their fears and attitudes about birth. We report internal consistency reliability, corrected-itemto-total correlations, factor loadings and convergent and discriminant validity of the new scale. Results:The Childbirth Fear -Prior to Pregnancy (CFPP) scale showed high internal consistency across samples (α >0.86). All corrected-item-to total correlations exceeded 0.45, supporting the uni-dimensionality of the scale. Construct validity of the CFPP was supported by a high correlation between the new scale and a two-item visual analog scale that measures fear of birth (r >0.6 across samples). Weak correlations of the CFPP with 2 scores on measures that assess related psychological states (anxiety, depression and stress) support the discriminant validity of the scale. Conclusion:The CFPP is a short, reliable and valid measure of childbirth fear among young women and men in six countries who plan to have children. Highlights• Fear of childbirth can precede pregnancy and is associated with preferences for cesarean section among young men and women who plan to have children in the future.• Assessing fear of birth and associated factors for young adults in different countries is an important first step in understanding why some young women and men are afraid of childbirth and how this issue might be addressed.• We developed a 10-item fear of birth scale that incorporates the main dimensions of fear reported by young adults in the literature, including fear of: labour pain, bodily damage, and complications.• The Childbirth Fear -Prior to Pregnancy (CFPP) scale had high internal consistency reliability across samples, measured one underlying construct, was highly correlated with another measure of childbirth fear, and was weakly correlated with measures of depression, anxiety and stress.

show abstract

“…Fear of birth can affect men and women and can vary from negligible concerns to intense emotional and physical responses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder [1]. It has been linked to concerns about coping with labor pain, obstetric complications, and maternal/infant health risks [2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pregnant women with intense fear of birth have an increased likelihood of exposure to epidural anesthesia and cesarean section (CS) [1,2,25,26] either through maternal requests [26][27][28] or indirectly through physiological and psychological mechanisms [2]. Data from Finland, Sweden and the UK highlight that between 7-22% of women reported fear of childbirth as a reason for an elective CS [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%