The Effect of Individual Counselling Program on Fear of Childbirth
Condition: Fear of Childbirth; Pregnancy Related
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      A randomized control trial was made to developing an individual counseling program to help
      women cope with their fear of childbirth and testing the program for effectiveness.
    

Detailed description: 
      Fear of childbirth is a common problem among women and one that affects their health and
      welfare before and during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. The problem can lead to
      adverse pregnancy outcomes and also cause a woman to experience psychological issues. Fear of
      childbirth can also influence the determination of the mode of delivery and can amount to a
      rise in cesarean rates.

      The healthcare provided by midwives and other healthcare professionals during pregnancy and
      childbirth have the power to reduce or exacerbate childbirth fears. The most significant
      midwifery intervention that can be used to diminish the fear of childbirth is counseling.
      There is a need to develop and test individual counseling models that require the basic
      training skills that midwives can use as part of their routine care to address women's fears
      and expectations about childbirth. The individual counseling program developed in this
      context may be an easy-to-implement and cost-effective method to use.

      This study was conducted for the purposes of developing an individual counseling program to
      help women cope with their fear of childbirth and testing the program for effectiveness.

      It was tested the hypotheses that there is no difference between the intervention and control
      groups of pregnant women after the intervention in terms of fear of childbirth, childbirth
      self-efficacy and state anxiety scores and childbirth outcomes (duration of labor, mode of
      delivery, elective and emergency cesarean rates, postpartum hypertension and need for a blood
      transfusion, the admittance of the newborn into the intensive care unit, preferences for
      future births and duration of stay in hospital).
    

Intervention name(s): Intervention group
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The women in the intervention groups were administered a three-session intervention program in addition to the routine care they received.The program encompassed providing the women with an educational booklet, childbirth stories and childbirth videos that were created to reduce their fears of childbirth.The interviews were held a total of three times, in gestational weeks 28-30, 31-33 and 34-36. The duration of the intervention at each visit was 60-80 minutes. Depending on the woman's own preference, she was invited to visit the delivery room at the second or last session and meet the midwives there. The women who did not wish to go to the delivery room were alternatively provided with photographs of the delivery room so they could take a look. Again as part of the education program, the women were given the links to the selected childbirth videos and given the opportunity to watch them.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Following recruitment, the pregnant women were divided into a study and a control group by randomization (1:1 randomization)
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Prenatal care; Fear; Childbirth; Counseling; Midwifery