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

Stoll, Kathrin; Hall, Wendy A.; Janssen, Patricia A.; Carty, Elaine

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2013.07.017

Cited by 91 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…These findings support the development of educational modules that promote pregnancy and birth as normal rather than frightening life events and address specific fears, such as fear of irreversible physical damage and uncontrollable pain. Our findings 15 suggest that the CFPP could serve as a useful measure for assessing the effectiveness of such educational programmes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…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: 91%

“…Our objective was to develop a short measure that captures dimensions of fear that have been reported by young adults who plan to have children in the future, such as fear of labour pain, fear of bodily damage, fear of complications, and fear that harm might come to the baby (14,15). To this end, we developed a 10-item scale to assess fear of birth among young adults prior to their first pregnancy and birth.…”

Section: Development Of the Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, we developed a 10-item scale to assess fear of birth among young adults prior to their first pregnancy and birth. The scale was adapted from a 6-item fear of childbirth scale that was validated with Canadian university students and published by the first author and colleagues in 2013 (15). The 6-item scale, created from existing items on the survey, was uni-dimensional and had an acceptable alpha (0.75); however, it included three reverse-scored items that measured confidence in birth, rather than fear of birth.…”

Section: Development Of the Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elevated risk perceptions were associated with increased fear of birth among men (15); when asked why young men and women preferred Cesarean section over vaginal birth, 56% of women and 32% of men chose CS to avoid labour pain and/or because they are afraid of pain (16). 6 This body of literature informed the development of a fear of childbirth measure for young women and men who plan to have children in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Development Of the Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Of the Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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

Self Cite

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Maternal motives behind elective cesarean sections

Reyes

Rosenberg

2019

American J Hum Biol

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ObjectivesThe World Health Organization recommends a target cesarean section rate of 10‐15%. In recent years, the US has had a nation‐wide rate of 30.3% and some developed countries are even higher. Many factors account for this high rate, but our hypothesis is that women who elect cesarean section do so at least in part because of unallayed fear.MethodsOur sample was comprised of American women of childbearing age who have not given birth but may in the near future. We received 368 online survey responses with a 92% completion rate. Responses were categorical and hypotheses tested with non‐parametric statistics.ResultsThose who reported a preference for cesarean section were significantly more likely to be extremely fearful of birth (43.9%) than those who reported a preference for vaginal delivery (20.6%). 73.2% of the cesarean section group state that fear is what influenced their birth preference, 9.8% said their fear had no influence, while in the vaginal birth group 18.9% said fear influenced their birth preference and 53.7% said it did not.ConclusionsIn our sample, women likely to elect cesarean sections are motivated at least in part by fear. They report both more extreme levels of fear than the group anticipating non‐surgical delivery and they more often say that this fear influences their birth decision. This study offers productive, non‐interventional, and inexpensive ways to address women's fears in the hope of reducing unnecessary cesarean sections.

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Fear of Birth and Modern Maternity Systems of Care

Butcher

Willocks

2019

Understanding Anxiety, Worry and Fear in Childbearing

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

Cited by 91 publications

References 38 publications

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

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

Maternal motives behind elective cesarean sections

Fear of Birth and Modern Maternity Systems of Care

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