Fear of Childbirth and some Related Factors in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

We aimed to reveal fear of childbirth among primiparous women followed up in family health centers and related factors during the pandemic. We conducted this cross-sectional, epidemiological study between September and November 2020 with 117 women (95.1%) conveniently selected within the target population of primiparous women followed up in fifteen family health centers. In the data collection, we used an introductory information form for the pregnant and the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire - Version A (W-DEQ-A). We utilized one-way analysis of variance and independent samples t-test to compare the group, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The findings revealed that about half of the participants (52.1%) were 18-25 years, and 43.6% had primary or secondary school education. We found the mean W-DEQ-A score to be 64.69±19.44. We concluded that those aged 34-41 years had significantly lower W-DEQ-A scores than those aged 18-25 and 26-33 years (p < 0.001). Overall, the participants had a moderate fear of childbirth. Besides, age, educational attainment, place of residence for the last six months, monthly household income, and pregnancy planning status were the variables associated with fear of childbirth.