Relationship between fear of pain, fear of delivery and attitude towards cesarean section with preferred mode of delivery among pregnant women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Instructor of health community, Social Determinant of Health Research Center, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

2 Assistant professor, department of Epidemiology, Social Determinant of Health Research Center, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

3 BSc of Public Health, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

4 MSc in Health Education & Promotion, Social Determinant of Health Research Center, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Rapid increase in the rate of cesarean section (CS) according to severe complications of CS compared to vaginal delivery caused CS as one of the major concerns in women's health. Regarding to the high prevalence of CS in Birjand and the importance of reducing primary CS, this study was performed with aim to investigate the relationship between fear of pain, fear of delivery and attitude toward CS with preferred mode of delivery among pregnant women referring to health and treatment centers in Birjand.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 196 primiparous women referring to health and treatment centers of Birjand in 2013. Participants completed the questionnaires including demographic data and preferred mode of delivery, fear of pain, fear of delivery and attitude toward CS. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16), and Fisher exact test, Chi-square, t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. PResults: 154 women (81.1%) had tendency to vaginal delivery and 104 (54.7%) had high fear of pain. 69 (37.3%) had very fear of delivery. 160 (85.5%) had negative and very negative attitude to CS. There was significant differences between the preferred mode of delivery and fear of pain (P=0.047), fear of delivery (P=0.012), and attitude toward CS (P=0.008). Also, significant difference was observed between the preferred mode of delivery and educational level of husband (P=0.017), family income (P=0.022), and interval between marriage and pregnancy (P=0.001).
Conclusion: Regarding to the importance of attitude toward CS and fear of delivery and their impact on selecting mode of delivery and subsequently on maternal and neonatal health, interventions appears to be needed for modifying the attitudes and reducing fear of delivery in primiparous women in Birjand.

Keywords


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