Fear of childbirth in pregnancy was not increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the Netherlands: a cross‐sectional study

Abstract Introduction Fear of childbirth is a well‐known problem during pregnancy and can have implications for childbirth, including prolonged labor, use of epidural analgesia, obstetric complications, presence of traumatic stress symptoms, or request for an elective cesarean section. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has affected mental health and therefore could have increased fear of childbirth during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate fear of childbirth during the pandemic in the Netherlands compared with a reference group from before the pandemic. Mater... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Zilver, Sanne J. M.
Hendrix, Yvette M. G. A.
Broekman, Birit F. P.
de Leeuw, Robert A.
de Groot, Christianne J. M.
van Pampus, Maria G.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica ; volume 101, issue 10, page 1129-1134 ; ISSN 0001-6349 1600-0412
Verlag/Hrsg.: Wiley
Schlagwörter: Obstetrics and Gynecology / General Medicine
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27238380
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14409

Abstract Introduction Fear of childbirth is a well‐known problem during pregnancy and can have implications for childbirth, including prolonged labor, use of epidural analgesia, obstetric complications, presence of traumatic stress symptoms, or request for an elective cesarean section. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has affected mental health and therefore could have increased fear of childbirth during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate fear of childbirth during the pandemic in the Netherlands compared with a reference group from before the pandemic. Material and methods We conducted a cross‐sectional study to evaluate pregnant women during the first and second waves of COVID‐19 compared with both each other and with pregnant women from before the pandemic. Participants were recruited through social media platforms, hospitals, and midwifery practices. Pregnant women aged ≥18 years who had mastered the Dutch language were eligible to participate. Fear of childbirth was measured with the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire online using a cut‐off score of ≥85 to indicate clinically relevant fear of childbirth. The primary outcome was the prevalence of fear of childbirth. We undertook additional analyses to specifically look at possible effect modification. Results In total, 1102 pregnant women completed the questionnaire during the first wave of the pandemic, 731 during the second wave, and 364 before the pandemic. Fear of childbirth was present in 10.6%, 11.4%, and 18.4%, respectively. We considered possible effect modification, which indicated that age and parity had a significant influence. In participants during the first wave of COVID‐19, nulliparous women had significantly lower odds (odds ratio [OR] 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34–0.73; p < 0.01) of having a fear of childbirth than did the reference group. Both younger participants in the first wave (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.37–0.93; p < 0.05) and older participants in the first wave (OR 0.44; 95% CI ...