Research
Longer Labor for Women with a Fear of Childbirth, Research Reveals
New research suggests women who are afraid of childbirth spend longer in labor than women who have no such fear. The result is published (27 June) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Between 5 and 20% of pregnant women have a fear of childbirth. Various factors have been associated with increased prevalence of fear of childbirth, including young maternal age, being a first-time mother, pre-existing psychological problems, lack of social support and a history of abuse or adverse obstetric events.
This Norwegian study looked at 2206 women with a singleton pregnancy who intended to deliver vaginally.
Fear of childbirth was assessed by the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ), a validated psychometric instrument designed to measure fear of childbirth. Women undertook the questionnaire at 32 weeks gestation and fear of childbirth was defined as a score of more than 85. Out of the total number, 165 (7.5%) women scored more than 85.
Labor duration was defined as 3-4 centimeters cervical dilatation and 3 uterine contractions per 10 minutes, until delivery of the child.
The average age of the participants at delivery was 30.9 years and 50.5% (1113 women) were first time mothers. Average labor duration was 8.22 hours for first-time mothers, and it was 4.91 hours for parous women.
The researchers found that women with a fear of childbirth spent one hour and 32 minutes longer in labor than women with no such fear. After adjustment for other factors associated with labor duration, such as parity, epidural analgesia, instrumental vaginal delivery and labor induction, the difference was still significant at 47 minutes.
Average labor duration was 8 hours for women with fear of childbirth compared to 6.46 hours (which equals 6 hours and 28 minutes) for women without fear.
The study also found that women with fear of childbirth more often
New research suggests women who are afraid of childbirth spend longer in labor than women who have no such fear. The result is published (27 June) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Between 5 and 20% of pregnant women have a fear of childbirth. Various factors have been associated with increased prevalence of fear of childbirth, including young maternal age, being a first-time mother, pre-existing psychological problems, lack of social support and a history of abuse or adverse obstetric events.
This Norwegian study looked at 2206 women with a singleton pregnancy who intended to deliver vaginally.
Fear of childbirth was assessed by the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ), a validated psychometric instrument designed to measure fear of childbirth. Women undertook the questionnaire at 32 weeks gestation and fear of childbirth was defined as a score of more than 85. Out of the total number, 165 (7.5%) women scored more than 85.
Labor duration was defined as 3-4 centimeters cervical dilatation and 3 uterine contractions per 10 minutes, until delivery of the child.
The average age of the participants at delivery was 30.9 years and 50.5% (1113 women) were first time mothers. Average labor duration was 8.22 hours for first-time mothers, and it was 4.91 hours for parous women.
The researchers found that women with a fear of childbirth spent one hour and 32 minutes longer in labor than women with no such fear. After adjustment for other factors associated with labor duration, such as parity, epidural analgesia, instrumental vaginal delivery and labor induction, the difference was still significant at 47 minutes.
Average labor duration was 8 hours for women with fear of childbirth compared to 6.46 hours (which equals 6 hours and 28 minutes) for women without fear.
The study also found that women with fear of childbirth more often