Examining the Relationship Between Fear of Childbirth During Pregnancy and Prenatal Attachment

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Giving birth is one of the most stressful events in many women's lives. Fear of childbirth is common among pregnant women, also it becomes a serious issue if it affects daily life. Psychological problems such as fear of birth in pregnancy negatively affect prenatal bonding. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between fear of birth and prenatal attachment in pregnancy and examine the risk factors. METHODS: The sample of the study consisted of 500 pregnant women at 20 and above weeks of gestation. Descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, standard deviation), independent groups t test, One Way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyzes were used to evaluate the research data. RESULTS: It was found that the mean score of the pregnant women from the Wijma delivery expectancy/experience questionnaire version A scale was 58.93 +/- 21.21 and the mean score of the Prenatal Attachment scale was 52.73 +/- 8.75. As the correlation between the mean scores of the scales was examined, it was determined that there was a significant and high correlation in the negative direction. CONCLUSIONS: As a result, fear of childbirth was found to be moderate in the study and there is an inverse relationship between fear of childbirth and prenatal attachment. In addition, fear of childbirth is affected by sociodemographic factors and obstetric characteristics.