Pregnant women's fear of childbirth in midwife- and obstetrician-led care in Belgium and the Netherlands: test of the medicalization hypothesis

Fear of childbirth has gained importance in the context of increasing medicalization of childbirth. Belgian and Dutch societies are very similar but differ with regard to the organization of maternity care. The Dutch have a high percentage of home births and low medical intervention rates. In contrast, home births in Belgium are rarer, and the medical model is more widely used. By comparing the Belgian and Dutch maternity care models, the association between fear of childbirth and medicalization can be explored. For this study an antenatal questionnaire was completed by 833 women at 30 weeks o... Mehr ...