1. Randomized Controlled Trial of Interventions Used by Midwives to Treat Fear of Childbirth.
- Author
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Mies Padilla, Sergio, González de la Torre, Héctor, López Alcaide, Elena, Verdú Soriano, José, and Martín Martínez, Alicia
- Subjects
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CHILDBIRTH & psychology , *FEAR , *CESAREAN section , *PEARSON correlation (Statistics) , *REPEATED measures design , *DELIVERY (Obstetrics) , *VAGINA , *T-test (Statistics) , *DATA analysis , *EDUCATIONAL outcomes , *STATISTICAL sampling , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *SAMPLE size (Statistics) , *CHILDBIRTH education , *PREGNANT women , *ATTITUDES of mothers , *PREGNANCY outcomes , *RANDOMIZED controlled trials , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *CHI-squared test , *QUANTITATIVE research , *MANN Whitney U Test , *LABOR (Obstetrics) , *ONLINE education , *ANALYSIS of variance , *STATISTICS , *ONE-way analysis of variance , *SOCIAL support , *PATIENT satisfaction , *COMPARATIVE studies , *COUNSELING , *DATA analysis software , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *PATIENTS' attitudes - Abstract
Background: Fear of childbirth affects women worldwide and can have adverse consequences. Midwives have implemented a number of interventions, autonomously or as part of a professional team. However, midwives have been unable to identify the most appropriate intervention for ensuring the reduction or alleviation of this fear to provide the best perinatal outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a prenatal educational intervention followed by specific support during childbirth, designed and delivered exclusively by midwives for women with a high fear of childbirth. Method: This randomized controlled trial was performed with two arms in two phases: an online prenatal education phase followed by a support phase during childbirth. Participating women with a high fear of childbirth, which was determined using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire A-Spanish version, were assigned to the experimental group or the usual care control group at a 1:1 ratio. Results:Women showed a reduction in fear of childbirth in both phases of the study. According to the intention-to-treat analysis, a significant mean difference was observed in the prenatal stage in favor of the intervention group, and a nonsignificant difference was observed in favor of this same group after delivery. Discussion: The effectiveness of continuous specific prenatal education with preferential support during childbirth by midwives was indicated by improvements in the level of fear of childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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